A Dream Team Helped Make Steinbeck Purchase a Reality, Despite Enormous Challenges

Two years ago, almost everyone I reached out to said it couldn’t be done.

We were emerging from the fog of COVID. Our collective spirits were burdened with the chaos of everyday life and stunned by the meteoric rise in real estate values. A sense of ennui and a lack of vision prevailed.

Most people looked at John Steinbeck’s home sale through the prism of the eye-popping asking price, which weighed down our collective imagination. Time and again I was told, “It’s a great idea, Kathryn, but maybe the best we can do is save Steinbeck’s writing gazebo.”

But, in each conversation with decision-makers, I tried to flip the lens and focus on the priceless value of a Nobel laureate’s home, the enrichment it would bring to our community and to the world. I knew that, in years to come, what would matter most is simply this: Did we gain, or forever lose, a literary landmark? Did we choose to invest in creative and community capital, or capitulate to market forces?

The belief that preserving Steinbeck’s home would be of inestimable value fueled my persistence. I called everyone I knew with knowledge, experience and connections to turn the conversation from doubt to promise.

My conviction that broad community support would be persuasive bore fruit when, within weeks, more than 30,000 people signed an online petition to save his home. That number shocked everyone.

Southampton Town Councilman Tommy John Schiavoni was an early advocate and advisor. Susan Shillinglaw, former director of the Steinbeck Center and a friend of Elaine Steinbeck, provided invaluable advice and encouragement, as did philanthropy advisor Rebecca Chapman. Eric Meola, photographer of Bruce Springsteen’s iconic albums, tried his best to connect us to “the Boss” after a “27Speaks” podcast with The Express News Group helped spread the word.

All these supporters gave me hope and kept me going.

Then, John Avlon walked into Canio’s with his encouraging, can-do attitude. April Gornik convinced Sag Harbor Partnership’s Susan Mead and Diana Howard, and others, to dive in and leverage their experience.

Pulitzer Prize and National Book award-winner Colson Whitehead signed on early as honorary chair of the Steinbeck House Committee. Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr., author of the visionary Community Preservation Fund legislation that makes all this possible, not only encouraged me but got New York Governor Kathy Hochul to make a sizable contribution to our efforts.

All the while, resting on my shoulders was the spirit of Vince Clemente, a poet, biographer and teacher who lived in Sag Harbor.

Vince recognized the importance of Steinbeck’s life in Sag Harbor long before anyone else. He was the force behind the creation of the Steinbeck bust by Kimberly Monson in 2004, now on view in John Jermain Memorial Library. Vince gave many talks about Steinbeck at Canio’s and elsewhere in the community.

“Kathryn,” I imagined his distinctive voice reverberating in my ear, “this is a moral imperative.”

Steinbeck wrestled with moral imperatives in his work. He feared that America was slipping into a haze of thoughtless, convenient consumerism, and, as Susan Shillinglaw points out in her introduction to “The Winter of Our Discontent,” (1960) Steinbeck wrote that “a creeping, all-pervading, nerve-gas of immorality” was settling at our core. “The Winter of Our Discontent” spells that out clearly: Many in Baytown were angling to get ahead, even if it meant cheating, lying or worse.

We in Sag Harbor like to think this novel is based on our village, but in Steinbeck’s epigraph he makes clear that readers “would do better to inspect their own communities and search their own hearts, for this book is about a large part of America today.”

The Nobel Committee recognized Steinbeck’s prophetic voice, awarding him the Nobel Prize in literature in large part because of this book.

Steinbeck was drawn to our working fishing village with echoes of his California days. Living here revitalized his work. Susan Shillinglaw contends that “from 1960, when he composed this novel, to the end of his life … Steinbeck stood as America’s moral compass.” His last works are “Travels With Charley” (1962) and “America and the Americans” (1966).

From the start, the vision of a writer’s retreat with low-impact community access seemed the right model — a writer’s home becoming a home for writers. All involved wanted a local university to spearhead the effort. But for various reasons, none of the institutions we approached could take a leadership role.

When the University of Texas Michener Center was brought into the mix, Councilman Tommy John Schiavoni and Supervisor Jay Schneiderman were impressed with their commitment and credentials, including its Steinbeck archive, and its promise to raise a $10 million endowment. A proven, stable steward was key for the town to consider use of CPF funds.

From our first conversation, I recognized how lucky we’d be to have Bret Anthony Johnston lead the Steinbeck Writers Retreat. He is an acclaimed novelist, teacher and director of the Michener Center. Bret is whip-smart and, more importantly, genuine and down to earth. Like Steinbeck, Bret will be a welcome member of our community.

When visiting, he listened intently to the concerns and ideas of many, underscoring that local input is essential. Now he welcomes Stony Brook University as a vital member of the advisory board. We will have the participation of a local institution after all.

Vision and persistence served as a foundation for the dream team that formed, a team that worked long and hard, in particular Susan and Diana at the Sag Harbor Partnership. Their expertise, dogged determination and boundless energy were key to our success.

Together with April and John — always calm, creative and encouraging — we inched closer to our goal. Ultimately, it was thanks to the Southampton Town Board’s historic 5-0 vote in support of using the CPF that made our vision a reality.

To everyone who contributed, wrote a letter, spoke at public hearings or cheered from the sidelines, this success is yours.

I now envision a young writer hunched over a laptop or notebook in Joyous Garde, John’s writing gazebo. Maybe it’s a gray winter morning, or the twilight blue of an autumn evening. They are working, as writers do, in isolation, attempting to bring a poem, play or novel to life. All the while, enveloped by the spirit of the place that inspired Steinbeck.

And, later, on some Saturday afternoon, a mom with her daughter from town, along with a Steinbeck fan from afar, will walk the 1.8 acres and hear the osprey’s cry while a docent describes a slice of Steinbeck’s life. They will stand in silence and marvel at the view, and at the man who was America’s moral compass.

In 2002, Susan Shillinglaw brought a group of international attendees of a Steinbeck conference at Hofstra University to Sag Harbor. She was keen for them to experience the place that produced his last works.

That season, to honor Steinbeck’s centenary, Elaine’s sister, Jean Boone, generously welcomed me to take as many photos as I’d like from the walls of the home to display at Canio’s Books. Budd Schulberg, author of “On the Waterfront,” gave a moving talk about his friendship with John, surrounded by these family photos.

It was the beginning of my own journey with Steinbeck and his legacy.

We should all be proud to know that for the bicentennial, when a group of Steinbeck fans visit, they too will be able to walk the grounds and examine Joyous Garde — all because our town had the vision and took the action to preserve John Steinbeck’s Sag Harbor sanctuary for the ages.

Kathryn Szoka is co-owner of Canio’s Books in Sag Harbor and a driving force in the effort to preserve the Steinbeck property.