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. Continue reading from 06880