in the presence

Universities are great places to meet people. I'm not talking about getting a date for Friday (although that would be nice...) but about meeting great thinkers and artists. Last night John Updike read some of his pieces at the InPrint series. We were lucky enough to woo him over to our campus for an answer and question period beforehand. I say answer and question because he began with seven of his favorite quotations about writing, then allowed people to ask questions. He responded to each question, but answered few. While this type of thing is frustrating in a professor, Updike's roundabout responses were witty, charming and insiteful. He seemed like the kind of guy you might enjoy having lunch with: not exciting exactly but humorous and warm and probably a neat eater.