Ed Stever, former Suffolk County poet laureate and longtime educator, dies at 71

Former Suffolk County poet laureate Ed Stever was an award-winning artist whose writing, teaching and theater work helped to shape Long Island’s arts community.

Stever, who died on July 22 at age 71 after battling dementia, could spend hours searching for the right word in a poem or the right sentence in a play.

But when it came to making people laugh, his family said, the words seemed to arrive instantly.

"I think his most shining quality was his humor," his daughter Caitlyn Stever said.

Finding his artistic voice

Stever found his artistic calling in his 30s after studying at Suffolk County Community College, St. Joseph’s College and Empire State College, where he earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees.

Once he discovered poetry and theater, "he really just took off," said Linda Stever, his widow.

Stever wrote hundreds of poems, dozens of plays and poetry collections, among them "Transparency," "Propulsion" and "The Man With Tall Skin." His poetry also appeared in national literary journals including Chiron Review and Pearl Magazine, as well as such local publications as PoetryBay and Long Island Quarterly.

Caitlyn Stever said one of his most moving poems, "My Father, My Son," explored the death of his father.

"I think that’s just something that everyone can relate to — losing someone, loving someone," his daughter said.

That ability to find the universal in personal experience helped earn Stever first place in the 2000 Theater Oxford Ten-Minute Play Competition.

Stever also served as Suffolk County poet laureate from 2011 to 2013, one of his proudest achievements, his wife said.

Bringing poets together

Tammy Nuzzo-Morgan, of Sound Beach, nominated Stever to succeed her as poet laureate. She said his humor, honesty and years of supporting other writers made him well-suited to bring poets together and raise public interest in poetry.

Bryan McGowan, of Sag Harbor, an actor and longtime collaborator, said Stever’s gift was his ability to connect with audiences by finding the emotional detail that could make a poem or play resonate with others.

"What Ed always looked at was that human touch, that little spark that’ll catch somebody," McGowan said.

Despite his honors, McGowan said, Stever rarely called attention to his accomplishments.

"He was just about the most humble, down-to-earth person you would ever meet," McGowan said.

Stever also spent 20 years at Suffolk County Community College as an adjunct English professor and writing center tutor. His family said he treated teaching much like performing, using humor to make literature engaging.

Stever acted in and directed dozens of community theater productions at the Clare Rose Playhouse in Patchogue, where he also staged his play "The Third Pulpit." During a sold-out Manhattan performance, McGowan said, Stever accurately anticipated where audiences would find humor amid the play’s darkness.

As a director, McGowan said, Stever was equally attuned to the people performing his work.

"He made all of us better," McGowan said. "Not just as actors, but as people."

McGowan recalled asking Stever to fill in at the last minute for a staged reading at the Northport VA Medical Center. Stever canceled another commitment, performed for the veterans and stayed afterward, handing out popcorn and Cracker Jack.

As they walked to the car, McGowan thanked him for helping.

"No thanks are needed," Stever replied, calling it one of the greatest experiences he ever had.

Art rooted on Long Island

The people, landscapes and memories of Long Island became recurring material in Stever’s work. His daughter Kimberly Stever said he kept lifelong journals that later became source material for his poems and became "obsessed" with the region after taking a course on Long Island history.

"He went to every Long Island historic site," she said. "We have an album filled with pictures."

Born in Amityville on Feb. 17, 1955, Stever grew up in Lindenhurst and spent much of his adult life in Ridge and Rocky Point before moving to the Hudson Valley in 2019 as his health declined.

At home, his daughters said, Stever made art part of family life. They grew up backstage at the Clare Rose Playhouse, attended Broadway shows and poetry readings and wrote collaborative stories during vacations.

"The love of learning was the greatest gift he gave my children," Linda Stever said.

Besides his wife, Linda, of upstate Hurley, and daughters Caitlyn Stever, of Hurley, and Kimberly Stever, of Salt Lake City, Stever is survived by daughter Sandy Dury, of Rocky Point, and four grandchildren. A private celebration of life was held on July 26 in Oakdale.