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Dr. Sanford Sternlicht ’53 f not for a twist of fate, Sanford Sternlicht ’53 might have been a star of stage and screen. Instead, thanks to the military draft, generations of students and readers have been enriched by his wisdom and insight. Sternlicht was active in theatre as an undergraduate, winning the title role in Oswego’s “Abe Lincoln in Illinois” and leading roles in professional summer stock. He earned his master’s at Colgate University and returned to his native New York City, landing roles off-Broadway and studying with legendary actress and teacher Uta Hagen. The avantgarde Living Theatre cast him in a lead role, but before he could begin rehearsals, Sternlicht was drafted and wound up in the Navy. It was the end of his acting career. The young officer spent hours in his stateroom typing poetry and short stories. Soon he published Gull’s Way, a book of poems written at sea. Sternlicht became an instructor in the English, speech and theatre department at Oswego, rising quickly through the ranks, culminating in a 12-year role as the first chair of the theatre department. He received Oswego’s Distinguished Alumni Award in 1973 and the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching in 1974. He earned his doctorate at Syracuse University and after early retirement from Oswego in 1986, he began teaching full-time at SU, where he would be honored
as University College’s 1986 Teacher of the Year. Sternlicht would go on to write, edit or anthologize 32 volumes, mostly about British or Irish writers. Two of his books have been “Kindled” and two published in China. Another twist of fate would lead to critical acclaim for his writing. At a Poetry Society of America awards banquet for Gull’s Way, Sternlicht met venerable playwright and poet Padraic Colum, who knew Yeats and Joyce, two of Sternlicht’s heroes. Years later, he would collect Colum’s short stories for an SU Press volume that won him positive reviews in the New York Times Book Review and Times of London. “What I write informs my teaching, and what I teach informs my writing,” Sternlicht says. So after leading a tour for SU’s Judaic Studies program to New York’s Lower East Side, where he grew up, he started teaching in the program and published 2004’s The Tenement Saga and 2008’s Masterpieces of Jewish American Literature. Teaching comes naturally to this ex-actor, who enjoys reading aloud and acting out parts. “I like to be around young people,” he says. “I feel energized by the students.” What’s next for Sternlicht? The New York Council for the Humanities recently named him “Speaker in the Humanities.” Through 2012, he will present a series of statewide lectures about
Charles Wainwright
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Dr. Sanford Sternlicht ’53
the Lower East Side and the writings of Yorkshire vet James Herriot, the subjects of two of his bestsellers. He will retire from SU in 2010 after 50 consecutive years of college-level teaching. “Who knows?” he says of the future. “Things come to me out of the blue.” He is a self-described “yes man,” who embraces opportunities that come his way. It’s a philosophy that has worked well for him: from his days as a counter man at Sully’s in Oswego to teaching summer seminars in Ireland, to a Fulbright visiting lectureship at University of Pécs, Hungary. This vibrant scholar looks forward to saying “yes” to many more academic adventures to come. — Michele Reed