Stephen Barton, 56

Stephen Barton, 56Stephen Barton, formerly of Sag Harbor and East Hampton, died in Hollywood, California on August 12, 2019. He was 56 and was a resident of Los Angeles.

Born October 19, 1962, in Athens, Greece, to Peggy (Klenk) and David Barton,

he attended Sag Harbor schools through seventh grade and graduated from East Hampton High School. He attended Bethany College at Penn State, and graduated from the Conservatory of Theater Arts at SUNY Purchase in 1991.

He lived in Manhattan from 1987 to 1994, when he moved to the west coast to pursue a career in screenwriting. To supplement his income, he was a personal trainer to mainy celebrities and executives in the film industry.

Survivors said he was a talented athlete who loved the water. He was an accomplished swimmer and surfer who worked as an ocean lifeguard in East Hampton and Southampton from the late 1970s to the early 1990s. He took several surf trips to Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Hawaii and California. An inspired cook and gifted mixologist, he was the creator of the “Perfect Margarita” in 1993 while tending bar at LaSuperica in Sag Harbor, survivors said. He would speak and write with precision and style and, if he liked you, would offer you well-sourced incisive advice on posture, grammar or your swimming stroke, they added.

One family member noted, “Stephen Timothy Barton was very brave, as a boy and as a man. He was beloved by his family and his many friends. He was an amazing writer who loved the anecdote about writers having the cleanest homes because they procrastinate so much! His screenplays were amazing stories, full of compassion, energy and adventure.

He thirsted for justice. Physically, he was filled with grace and beauty. He told stories about running barefoot up mountains. He literally surfed the world. He was an ocean lifeguard on the Atlantic in Eastern Long Island.

He was a workout coach for actors and you may have seen him out at night, bar tending. He loved to eat meat so rare the rest of us told stories about it. He leaves behind family and friends devastated by his loss.”

He spent the winter and spring 2013 in the Austrian Alps making the feature movie he wrote “Autumn Blood.” He also won several national film festival awards for his 2013 short film “Sketch” about an autistic urban youth struggling to survive in Brooklyn.

He is survived by his parents and step-parents, Peggy and Newton Wilford of East Hampton, and David and Sarah Barton of Massachusetts; siblings Ruth Barton of Massachusetts, David Barton of Oregon, Jon Barton of Sag Harbor, and Rachel Barton of Canada; and nieces and nephews, Ida Grace and Annabelle Baton, Moses, India and Hugo Barton.

A funeral is planned for Sunday, September 15, at 2 p.m. at the Breakwater Yacht Club in Sag Harbor; Nancy Remkus will officiate. Burial is at Oakland Cemetery.