Sybil Joan (Schless) Steinberg — well-respected editor and book critic for Publishers Weekly and other outlets; longtime Westporter and avid civic volunteer, beloved for her long leadership of the Westport Library’s “Sybil’s List” book program — died yesterday in Sarasota, Florida, surrounded by family. She was 90 years old.
Her family says: “Sybil’s life was characterized by a love of literature from an early age, and a generosity of spirit that motivated her to share her book recommendations and literary observations with legions of adoring audiences.”
Sybil Steinberg
She was born on May 3, 1933, in Bridgeport to Marcus and Ann (Backer) Schless, who owned and ran a shoe store.
After graduating from Bridgeport Central High School, Sybil entered Smith College, majoring in English literature. She made the dean’s list all 4 years. She edited the Sophia student newspaper. and was named a Sophia Smith Scholar.
She graduated magna cum laude in 1954, and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.
At a friend’s wedding while home on break from Smith, Sybil gravitated to a small crowd gathered around a young doctor named Harold “Hal” Steinberg. He told a story about running into a friend in New York who was delivering a package to Oliver St. John Gogarty, the inspiration for Buck Mulligan in James Joyce’s Ulysses.
Hal noticed that Sybil was the only one in the crowd who got the literary reference. He stealthily rearranged place cards so he could sit next to her at the reception. From there a romance blossomed.
Upon Sybil’s graduation from Smith, Hal persuaded her to decline a coveted job offer from Doubleday and to marry him instead. They were wed in November 1954. Hal did medical internships and residencies in Buffalo and Hartford, and a stint as an army physician at Fort Campbell, Kentucky.
In 1960 the couple moved to Westport, where Hal established an internal medicine practice. They raised 3 sons: Jonathan, Peter, and Richard. Sybil and Hal remained Westport residents the rest of their lives.
While Sybil took readily to her role as a doctor’s wife, she remained active outside of the home. She founded and co-directed the Council Pre-School for Disadvantaged Children, securing state accreditation and incorporation into the Westport school system.
She also served as a part-time instructor for Famous Writers School in Westport, and freelanced for the Westport News and other publications.
Shortly after earning her master’s in education from Fairfield University in 1975, Sybil had a serendipitous encounter with fellow Westporter Jean Mercier, children’s book editor at Publishers Weekly. Jean asked Sybil to write a review, then offered a fill-in copyediting gig that eventually became a full-time position.
Sybil remained at PW for 25 years, ascending to fiction editor. She retired in 2001 as senior editor.
For 18 years she edited the Interviews section, conducting conversations with literary figures including John Updike, Annie Proulx and Faye Weldon.
A highlight of her tenure at PW was her interview with Salman Rushdie, still hiding in London 6 years after the fatwa.
Sybil edited three volumes of interviews compiled from the magazine: Writing For Your Life #1, #2, and #3. As a reviewer, Sybil’s work was nominated for the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.
She served on the board of the National Book Critics Circle, and made television appearances on “Charlie Rose,” C-SPAN, NBC, and CBS.
Sybil continued to review books and maintain her ties to the publishing industry well into retirement, contributing reviews to numerous media including the Washington Post. Her annual “Sybil’s List” lecture, in which she briefly described her favorite books of the year, drew standing room only crowds at the Westport Library and Bayport Beach and Tennis Club in Longboat Key, Florida, where she spent recent winters. The electronic version of “Sybil’s List” had an extensive digital circulation, reaching thousands of fans.
Sybil was predeceased by her husband Harold in 2016, and her brother Aaron in 2007. She is survived by her sons Jonathan Steinberg (Nancy Mullins) of Westport, Peter Steinberg (Susana Byers) of Easthampton, Massachusetts, and Richard Steinberg (Kristi Yoo Mee) of San Diego, and 8 grandchildren. She also leaves behind her beloved companion Matthew Sagal, who shared Sybil’s love of opera, cinema, fine dining, and life at Bayport.
Funeral services will take place on Thursday (March 21, 11 a.m., Temple Israel), followed by burial at Temple Israel Cemetery in Norwalk. The family will sit Shiva at the home of Jonathan Steinberg and Nancy Mullins on Thursday after the burial, with minyan around 7 p.m.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made in Sybil’s memory to the Westport Library, Fairfield County Hospice House or Planned Parenthood.