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5 THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT
Rosemary Steinbaum
Montclair resident named curator of the Philip Roth Personal Library
at the Newark Public Library
24
HOLIDAY 2018 MONTCLAIR MAGAZINE
with him was on a Newark bus.
“My friend, Elizabeth DelTufo,
wanted to do a Philip Roth tour in
Newark and contacted me because
she knew I was a reader and a fan.
She asked me to go through his
books to find passages that corre-
sponded with stops on the bus.
I had a wonderful time doing that.
“Over the years I collaborated
with Liz, as did my husband, Rob,
in giving the tours. One year, Rob,
Liz and I were giving the tour to a
group from Weequahic High School
for their 50th reunion. We got on the
bus, and there was Philip Roth him-
self sitting in the back. Apparently,
he got a kick out of the fact that
there was a Phillip Roth tour.
Everyone got out their phones and
took pictures. We had a high
old time.”
STEINBAUM
al cache and “furiously” taking notes
on his anecdotes. She then drafted
captions, which Roth rewrote in his
own voice, and excerpted passages
from books that corresponded to the
photos and the captions.
SHE MET ROTH WHEN HE CRASHED
THE “PHILIP ROTH TOUR” IN
NEWARK.
Steinbaum had been introduced
to Roth here and there, but her first
memorable and personal encounter
SHE WENT TO ROTH’S SUMMER
HOUSE IN LITCHFIELD COUNTY,
CONN., TO PICK OUT THE ROOM’S
FURNISHINGS.
In addition to his books, Roth’s
will specified that his personal library
should contain “such furnishings as
lend authenticity” to the space. So,
Steinbaum drove up to Roth’s farm-
house in Connecticut, “somewhere
in the woods, really remote,” she
says, where he lived from May to
September. There, she found a long
farm table that will be the centerpiece
of the library, along with personal
items for the walls, such as diplomas
and baseball memorabilia.
T
he city of Newark was
a central character
in Philip Roth’s life
and writing. Now,
Montclair resident
Rosemary Steinbaum
is tasked with ensuring that Roth
and his oeuvre continue to have a
prominent place in his home city.
When he died in May of this year,
Roth willed his personal book collec-
tion to the Newark Public Library,
which he frequented while growing
up in the Weequahic section and
featured prominently in his first
book, Goodbye Columbus.
According to the terms of his
will, the library has three years from
the date of his death to create the
Philip Roth Personal Library, which
will be housed in the second floor
of the 1899 building, in a “very
grand” reading room with big arched
windows, according to Steinbaum.
Architects and designers have been
hired and fundraising has begun.
The $1.5 million cost of the project
will be raised by private donations.
“It is an astounding opportunity not
just for the Newark Public Library
but for Newark,” she says.
Steinbaum, a dean at Joseph
Kushner Hebrew Academy in
Livingston, was the logical choice
to curate the Philip Roth Personal
Library. In 2008, she worked with
Roth on the NPL exhibit “Philip
Roth: A Life in Photos.” She spent
two days at his New York City apart-
ment, culling photos from his person-
WRITTEN BY JULIA MARTIN