SAG HARBOR, NY — The Sag Harbor home where famed author John Steinbeck wrote his final book, “The Winter of Our Discontent” is on the market — and the community is coming together to try to save the property for posterity.
Steinbeck won the Nobel Prize in 1962 while living in Sag Harbor, said the petition to local elected officials, which was produced by Canio's Books.
“His modest home and writing studio are now for sale,” the report said. “If any property in Sag Harbor and the East End should be preserved, it's the Steinbeck House.”
Steinbeck, the report said, wrote “The Winter of Our Discontent” about a fictional beach community, much like Sag Harbor, in his writing studio, Joyous Garde.
“Unlike many writers in the village who maintain their anonymity, Steinbeck immersed himself in the community. He started the modern Whaling Festival, was a familiar face up and down Main Street and a friend to many,” the report said. .
Those who want to preserve the home pointed to communities across the country that have preserved the homes of famous writers, such as Emily Dickinson in Amherst, Ernest Hemingway in Key West, Langston Hughes in New York, Herman Melville in Pittsfield, MA, and others . .
Elected officials, the petition said, “must preserve this jewel in its literary crown. How many communities have had a Nobel Prize-winning author live and be an integral part of their lives?”
Officials have taken steps in recent years to honor Steinbeck in Sag Harbor.
In 2019, after four years of planning, work began on a waterfront park in Sag Harbor honoring literary giant Steinbeck.
Southampton Town has officially transferred management of the operation of Steinbeck Waterfront Park to Sag Harbor Village. The parcel was acquired by Southampton Town with Community Conservation Funds.
According to city officials, the 2019 ceremony capped “an effort, reaching back nearly a generation, to save from condominium development one of the last remaining waterfront parcels in downtown Sag Harbor.”
The new park will connect to the existing Windmill Park and an updated Long Wharf, “forming an important interconnected and integrated waterfront at the center of village life,” city officials said, aiming to serve both residents and tourists.
“The Town of Southampton is proud to partner with the Village of Sag Harbor to create this new waterfront park,” said Jay Schneiderman, Town of Southampton Supervisor. “Steinbeck Park will enhance the village experience for all and honor a great American writer who loved Sag Harbor.”
Steinbeck, officials said, lived in Sag Harbor for the last 16 years of his life and was “deeply involved” in the village, helping to create the Long Wharf Windmill and the beloved Harborfest event. Steinbeck was the author of 27 books and 16 novels, including “The Grapes of Wrath” — and wrote at least two while living in Sag Harbor, including “The Winter of Our Discontent” and “Travels with Charlie,” which referenced Sag Harbor of House.
Steinbeck died in 1968.
