• 27
  • September
    2010

John Steinbeck was well known for his books set in California, his birthplace. "East of Eden" and "Grapes of Wrath" are both stories of California. But Steinbeck also had a place in Manhattan, and also a house that he called "my little fishing place," just outside of Sag Harbor, NY. He set out from the Sag Harbor house with his poodle on the journey that would be immortalized as "Travels With Charley."

A six-sided "writing house" looks over the water in three directions. Steinbeck loved to write there, free from distractions.

Ownership of the house is still in dispute. Florida contested will attorneys following the case note that Steinbeck's oldest son, Thomas, says the house belongs to Steinbeck's blood descendants. But the house went to Steinbeck's widow, Elaine Steinbeck, his third wife, and she left it to her sister, Jean Boone, 81.

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"The house belongs to me. Elaine left it to me, and I'm leaving it to my family," Mrs. Boone said recently. She said the property was left to her in a trust.

Elaine was sued In 2004 by Thomas Steinbeck and his niece Blake Smyle. Elaine had died in 2003, leaving most of her estate to her children from a previous marriage and to Mrs. Boone. The suit alleges a "30-year conspiracy" to cheat the Steinbeck children and grandchildren of royalties and copyright control.  

The lawsuit was dismissed in 2009, but Steinbeck and Smyle have appealed. Oral arguments will be held on Oct. 8 in Manhattan before the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

The appeal does not actually claim the Sag Harbor house for Thomas Steinbeck nor for Ms. Smyle. The action is mainly over the rights to John Steinbeck's books. But the Steinbeck family hopes that a victory would open the door to showing that Elaine Steinbeck intended to strip the Steinbeck family of the author's property. If the door were opened, perhaps the house would be recovered also.

Source: New York Times "At Steinbeck's Getaway as Heirs' Feud Revives" 9/23/2010