Former Clarke Teacher Publishes Third Book While Battling Multiple Sclerosis

For Steve Sangirardi, the will to keep on writing is still strong.

In 1996, Sangirardi started teaching 11th and 12th grade English classes including A.P. and Syracuse English at . A short time after starting at Clarke, he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. In 2009, after 33 years of teaching, the disease advanced to a degree that he was no longer able to drive long distances or stand or teach.

“I miss teaching and the kids,” Sangirardi said.

Since 2009, he has written and published, including this latest book, “A Shakespearean View of Freud.” After 30 years of teaching Shakespeare, Sangirardi says this book which took him 15 years to write is his attempt at, “a Freudian interpretation of Shakespeare.” 

The novel is a complicated love story that takes place between 1982 and 1987 in Long Island and in Missouri. The reader meets the main character Rob Conti in Elmont, Long Island.

“Conti was [emotionally] scared by a girl when he was 19 or 20 and he projects that on his wife who would never do that,” Sangirardi says referring to adultery. “Every man has his own jealous insecurities. I’ve dissected Conti’s jealous fantasy he is accusing [his wife] of things that she didn’t do because deep down he wants to commit adultery.”

Conti jealous rage further weakens the marriage and takes a toll on his wife Laura. In the middle of relationship is a baby who passes away in his crib. The baby’s death leads a very insecure Conti to have an affair with women named Nancy.

“Women are good characters [in this novel] except for the last girl, Nancy,” Sangirardi said.

This vicious cycle repeats when Conti attempts to rebuild his life in Columbia, Missouri, which is where Sangirardi taught and went to University.

“When I sent out the invites [for the book] to friends and family I begged them to believe that it wasn’t me.”

Sangirardi has completed his next book, which is a sequel to his first, titled, “Monday and Beyond.”