“The jokes over the phone. The memories packed
in the rapid-access file. The whole act.
Who will do it again? That's it: no one;
imitators and descendants aren't the same.’’

— From “Perfection Wasted,’’ by John Updike (1932-2009) novelist, short-story writer, essayist, critic and poet. He spent most of his adult life in various Massachusetts North Shore towns.