GBH Openvault

At Home; John Updike

Part of From the Vault.

07/28/1978

In this program we sit with John Updike in his study surrounded by mementos, private treasures, family pictures and his twenty books. Reading his own words on his boyhood, we see stills of Updike as a boy growing up in Pennsylvania, Harvard, family, colleagues, and relaxing. He tells marvelous stories of learning the art of pratfalls to become socially acceptable at Harvard, secretly wishing to be a cartoonist, working at the New Yorker, developing the very disciplined work habits which allow him to produce a book a year. We hear him, now married to his second wife, reflect on the vicissitudes of life, fidelity, and marriage. He talks of family, and we see him play basketball with his three stepsons.


License Clip

More material may be available from this program at the GBH Archives. If you would like research access to the collection at GBH, please email archive_requests@wgbh.org.

Series
At Home
Program
John Updike
Program Number

101

Series Description

Broadcast Sundays beginning August 6, 1978.

Beginning August 6th, a series of informal, very personal visits with six formidable, very personable Bay State residents. Journalist China Altman is the host of the series. Series release date: 8/6/1978

Program Description

In this program we sit with him in his library / study surrounded by mementos, private treasures, family pictures and his twenty books. Reading his own words on his boyhood, we see stills of Updike as a boy growing up in Pennsylvania, Harvard, family, colleagues, and relaxing. He tells marvelous stories of learning the art of pratfalls to become socially acceptable at Harvard, secretly wishing to be a cartoonist, working at the New Yorker, developing the very disciplined work habits which allow him to produce a book a year. We hear him, now married to his second wife, reflect on the vicissitudes of life, fidelity, and marriage. He talks of family, and we see him play basketball with his three stepsons.

Asset Type

Broadcast program

Media Type

Video

Subjects
Harvard College (1780- ). Class of 1954
Authors' spouses--United States
Gender identity--United States--Psychological aspects
Authors, American--Homes and haunts--New England
Hemingway, Ernest, 1899-1961--Appreciation
Updike, John
Authors, American--20th century--Interviews
Filmed literary readings
Genres
Talk Show
Topics
Biography
Creators
Debarger, David (Director)
Eaton, Rebecca (Producer)
Contributors
Altman, China (Interviewer)
Updike, John (Interviewee)
Publication Information
WGBH Educational Foundation
Citation
Chicago: “At Home; John Updike,” 07/28/1978, GBH Archives, accessed December 22, 2024, http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_60BEB04C3EF141E0B0B3E6E2B4668EAC.
MLA: “At Home; John Updike.” 07/28/1978. GBH Archives. Web. December 22, 2024. <http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_60BEB04C3EF141E0B0B3E6E2B4668EAC>.
APA: At Home; John Updike. Boston, MA: GBH Archives. Retrieved from http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_60BEB04C3EF141E0B0B3E6E2B4668EAC
If you have more information about this item, we want to know! Please contact us, including the URL.