Death Of An Author

The Death of an Author John Updike is dead, can’t say I know much about him I may have read one or two of his books but he didn’t leave a lasting impression as Hemingway did. One of my neighbours has died too, I saw him every day walking past my house with his old dog and a basket in his left arm, with wine and a bit to eat. He was going to his little field, doing some weeding but mostly just drinking looking at the way birds flew, patting his dog’s head and snoring gently under of a tree. There was something about his eyes, like some inner suffering had made him look holy, say, as an idealized picture of Jesus on the cross. I’m going to his funeral tomorrow morning, at 67 he was bit young for death I thought, a new face will come and take his place; but who is going to look after his old dog?