In a stunning loss for American letters, John Updike died today of lung cancer at 76, only months after publishing his 27th novel, "The Widows of Eastwick."

John Updike

A longtime resident of Massachusetts, Mr. Updike was born March 18, 1932, near Reading, Pa., and was raised in Central Pennsylvania, the setting for his best known series of novels, the "Rabbit" books.

His fiction first appeared in the New Yorker magazine in the 1950s after he dropped plans to be a painter and became a full-time writer. He also wrote prolifically about novels, writers and art in numerous essays collected in a half dozen books as well as three autobiographical works. He started his career as a poet, releasing nine poetry collections.

Mr. Updike's one foray in playwriting was less successful, based on Pennsylvania's only president, "Buchanan Dying."