Irony helps

Historical marker in  Ipswich, Mass., where John Updike lived for a while with his family. His and others’ extramarital adventures in North Shore towns provided some juicy material for his columns.

“I moved to New England partly because it has a real literary past. The ghosts of Hawthorne and Melville still sit on those green hills. The worship of Mammon is also somewhat lessened there by the spirit of irony. I don't get hay fever in New England either.’’

— John Updike (1932-2009), American literary giant. Raised in Pennsylvania, he spent most of his adult life in towns along the Massachusetts North Shore.