Ed Stever

Ed Stever (Poet Laureate of Suffolk County 2011-2013, playwright, director, actor, thespian, intellectual, professor, husband, dad) passed away on July 22, 2026 at the age of 71. He was born in Amityville to Edward and Therese Stever and was one of seven children. He attended Catholic School, Our Lady of Perpetual Help, which made him a life-long atheist and resulted in some of his funniest but most irreverent poems.

He leaves behind his beloved wife, Linda; his daughters, Sandy, Caitlyn, and Kimberly; and his cherished grandchildren, Christian, Ava, Kai, and Byrdie, while holding forever in his heart the memory of his grandson, Raife.

Ed was always engaged in creative pursuits. He was a prolific writer. He wrote hundreds of poems, multiple plays and kept a journal for most of his adult life. He directed and acted in dozens of plays in local community theatre. He loved astronomy and local history. He turned his wife’s bathroom into a darkroom when he became interested in photography. He loved music, a passion that only intensified as he lost the ability to be creative in other ways. He was smart, and he knew it, and he wanted you to know it as well. He was snobby about his intellect, but it was an endearing quality to those who knew him well. He was merciless when you mispronounced something- a trait that has been passed down to his children.

He was an avid reader and when our parents worked at JFK, they would drive home with the lights on so she could read Stephen King’s The Stand to him. He was often happiest sitting in a beach chair writing in his journal or seeing a play on Broadway.

Growing up with a creative father made for an interesting childhood. In our mother and father’s closet you would find his purple plastic 90’s kaboodle filled with theatre makeup. Depending on the play that season, Dad always looked different, transforming from a murderer in Dead Man Walking to playing Santa at Christmas during holiday performances. Our childhood was filled with poetry readings, plays, and listening to our Dad endlessly running lines.

Ed had a giant personality, he was a humanist and a pacifist and was very vocal about what he believed in. He advocated for his family, and would do anything for his children. He was proud of his many accomplishments, especially being Poet Laureate of Suffolk County from 2011-2013.

Over the course of his life, he acted in 34 plays, directed numerous productions of his own work and that of others, and published three collections of poetry "Transparency", "Propulsion" and "The Man with Tall Skin."

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to The Long Island Poetry and Literature Repository. https://www.longislandpoetryandliteraturerepository.com/donate

My Father, My Sun

Light-years away,
a scintillating star,
you whisper across
a brilliantly webbed galaxy—
You were my father
but also my sun.
And i was but one
of seven whirling,
young planets
revolving
       about you
                of you,
                      from you.
But just as all planets,
orbits decaying,
must plunge,
blazing,
into their suns,
all suns
must rejoin
their universe.
- Edward W. Stever (Transparency, 1990)

Awards and Accomplishments:

Suffolk County Poet Laureate, 2011-13

2013 Bards Award from the Bards Initiative

2011 2nd Place Mid-Island Y JCC Poetry Competition

1999 Live Poets Award

1998 Pushcart Prize Nomination

1997 Honorable Mention, Long Island Quarterly

1996 Distinguished Graduate Award, Empire State College, Poetry and Performance

1996 Emerging Writer's Award, SoHo Arts Festival

1996 Honorable Mention, D. A. Levy Chapbook Competition, This: A Serial Review

1995 First Place, Live Poets Society, Islip, NY, Fall

1995 First Prize, 3rd Annual Poetry Competition, National League of American Pen Women

1993 Live Poets Award

1992 Island Poets Award

1992 Iva Mary Williams Award: Poet Magazine

1992 Westhampton Writers Festival: Jeanne Voege Award

1992 Chiron Review Award

1991 Westhampton Writers Festival: Jeanne Voege Award

1990 Westhampton Writers Festival: Jeanne Voege Award

Drama:

2011 "The Third Pulpit"--Semi-Finalist, Strawberry One-Act Festival, NYC

2000 "Shakespeare, Time Warps & Black Holes" -- First Place, Oxford Ten-Minute Play Competition

2003 "Searching for Mercy in a Parked Car" -- Lamia Ink One Page Play Competition