Sybil Steinberg

1933 - 2024

Sybil Steinberg

Westport, CT - Sybil Joan (Schless) Steinberg, 90, longtime editor and esteemed book critic for Publishers Weekly and other outlets, passed away March 17, 2024, in Sarasota, Fla., surrounded by family.

Sybil's long and glorious life was characterized by a love of literature from an early age, and by a generosity of spirit that motivated her to share her book recommendations and literary observations with legions of adoring audiences. She was born May 3, 1933, in Bridgeport, Conn., to Marcus and Ann (Backer) Schless, who owned and ran a shoestore. After graduation from Bridgeport Central High School, Sybil matriculated at Smith College in Northampton, majoring in English Literature. She made the Dean's List in each of her four years at Smith, where she also edited the Sophia student newspaper and was named a Sophia Smith Scholar. She was graduated Magna Cum Laude from Smith in 1954, and was elected to the Phi Beta Kappa society.

At a friend's wedding while home on break from Smith, Sybil gravitated to a small crowd gathered around a handsome young doctor named Harold "Hal" Steinberg, who was telling a story about running into a friend in New York who was delivering a package to Oliver St. John Gogarty, the inspiration for the character Buck Mulligan in James Joyce's Ulysses. Hal noticed that Sybil was the only one in the crowd who got the literary reference. He then stealthily rearranged the 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, whereupon they settled into an itinerant life as Hal fulfilled medical internships and residencies in Buffalo, N.Y., and Hartford, Conn., and a stint as an army physician at Fort Campbell, Ky. In 1960 Sybil and Hal moved to Westport, Conn., where Hal established his internal medicine practice, and the couple raised their three sons, Jonathan, Peter, and Richard. Sybil and Hal would remain Westport residents for 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, ultimately securing the pre-school's accreditation from the State of Connecticut 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, who was children's book editor at Publishers Weekly (PW). 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 the position of Fiction Editor and retiring in 2001 as Senior Editor. For 18 years she edited the PW Interviews section, which afforded her one-on-one conversations with elite literary figures including John Updike, Annie Proulx, Kazuo Ishiguro, and Faye Weldon. A highlight of her tenure at PW was her interview with Salman Rushdie, who was still in hiding in London six 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 also served on the board of the National Book Critics Circle, and made numerous television appearances on "Charlie Rose," CSPAN, 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 would briefly describe her favorite books of the year, regularly drew standing-room-only crowds at the Westport Library and at Bayport Beach and Tennis Club in Longboat Key, Fla., where Sybil spent her recent winters. The electronic version of "Sybil's List" had an extensive digital circulation, reaching hundreds if not thousands of fans.

Sybil was predeceased by her husband Harold in 2016, and by her brother Aaron in 2007. She is survived by her sons Jonathan Steinberg (Nancy Mullins) of Westport, Conn., Peter Steinberg (Susana Byers) of Easthampton, Mass., and Richard Steinberg (Kristi Yoo Mee Steinberg) of San Diego, Calif., as well as eight adoring 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 for Sybil Steinberg will take place Thursday, March 21, at 11am at Temple Israel in Westport, Conn., followed by burial at Temple Israel Cemetery in Norwalk, Conn. There will be a local shiva at the home of Peter Steinberg and Susana Byers in Easthampton on Sunday, March 24, at 7pm. 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.