Group buys John Updike’s childhood home in Shillington, Pa.; restoration and museum planned

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FILE - This May 20, 2006 file photo shows author John Updike speaking during a panel discussion at BookExpo America 2006 in Washington. Updike\'s childhood home in Pennsylvania has been purchased by a group that plans to restore it and turn it into a museum. The John Updike Society bought the home in Shillington, about 50 miles northwest of Philadelphia, for 80,000 on Monday. The Pulitzer Prize-winning author lived there until he was 13. (AP Photo/Caleb Jones,File)

SHILLINGTON, Pa. – John Updike’s childhood home in Pennsylvania has been purchased by a group that plans to restore it and turn it into a museum.

The John Updike Society bought the home in Shillington, about 50 miles northwest of Philadelphia, for $180,000 on Monday. The Pulitzer Prize-winning author lived there until he was 13.

The society hopes the 1900 house can be preserved and re-created how it would have looked in Updike’s youth. The Reading Eagle (http://bit.ly/Pn498I ) reports organizers will seek donated materials for display.

Best known for his novels chronicling the life of Harry “Rabbit” Angstrom, Updike won Pulitzers for two of those stories, “Rabbit Is Rich” and “Rabbit at Rest.” He died in 2009 at age 76.

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Information from: Reading Eagle, http://www.readingeagle.com/

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