Letters

We have learned that Sag Harbor’s gem, Canio’s Books, the best bookstore on Long Island and a fixture of Sag Harbor for more than 40 years, will be forced to move on September 30 [“Canio’s Books, Long a Sag Harbor Cultural Icon, Faces Uncertain Future as Lease Is Not Renewed,” 27east.com, March 20]. Failing that, it may have to close altogether.

My wife and I have regularly driven the 70 miles from our home in Kings Park to events hosted at Canio’s Books by its proprietors, Maryann Calendrille and Kathryn Szoka. These events are held year round and range from lectures on topics from politics to art to theology, readings by national and local authors, and writing workshops given by leading American poets, such as Mark Doty and Marvin Bell.

Nowhere else on Long Island are these events available.

What is particularly tragic about all of this is that Kathryn Szoka was just been named “Person of the Year” in 2023 by The Sag Harbor Express, in part for her work preserving John Steinbeck’s home in Sag Harbor. In his novel “The Grapes of Wrath,” Steinbeck, Pulitzer Prize-winner and Nobel Laureate, wrote about the displacement of good people due to cruel and arbitrary and economic circumstances.

The idea that, 21 months after being lauded for preserving Steinbeck’s workplace, Kathryn and Maryann should be forced out of their own workplace, should fill many with anger and indignation.

We urge the community of Sag Harbor to find a way to allow this institution to continue. Having people like Kathryn and Maryann in your community can only enrich it. Failing that, here’s hoping that they move to Smithtown — and take their kindness, intelligence and ability to create community with them.

Bart Mallio

Janine Manheim

Kings Park