John Steinbeck scholar and historian Lee Richard Hayman, a co-founder of the National Steinbeck Center in Salinas, died Monday, relatives said.
Known to friends and family as “Dick,” Mr. Hayman lived much of his life in Salinas and died in Weirton, W. Va., at the age of 87.
He was an organizer of Steinbeck interest groups in Salinas and helped found the National Steinbeck Center, which opened in 1998.
Mr. Hayman was a friend of Elaine Steinbeck, the author”s third wife. When she died in 2003, Mr. Hayman told The Herald, “She was one of the best things that ever happened to John Steinbeck. … The Nobel Prize doesn”t mean a thing compared to what she was to him.”
Mr. Hayman was a regular speaker at the annual Steinbeck Festival in Salinas, and in 2002 gave a light-hearted talk about the media”s top 10 “amusing and colossal errors” published about the author. He frequently catalogued such errors in his column “Again, Please?” in the academic journal Steinbeck Studies.
Mr. Hayman co-authored a guide to the Steinbeck collection, once housed at the Salinas Public Library but later moved to the National Steinbeck Center.
In 2004, he donated his 40-year collection of Steinbeck books and memorabilia, including valuable first editions, to the Martha Heasley Cox Center for Steinbeck Studies at San Jose State University. The collection, unveiled in 2007, is available to scholars for research.
Mr. Hayman was born in Indianapolis. As a lifelong literature instructor, he taught at Salinas High School, Hartnell College, Monterey Peninsula College, San Jose State and the University of the Americas in Mexico City. He also conducted workshops for Salinas Elder Hostel programs.
Mr. Hayman received honors from the National Steinbeck Center and the Robinson Jeffers Foundation of Carmel.
Mr. Hayman was a writer whose poems and light verses appeared in magazines, books and newspapers. In 1995, he wrote an article for The Herald titled, “In the Kitchen with John Steinbeck” about culinary references in the author”s works.
A memorial event is being organized by the Center for Steinbeck Studies and the National Steinbeck Center, with details to be announced later.
My. Hayman was preceded in death by his brother, Milton A. Hayman; He is survived by sister-in-law Sippy Hayman and niece Sherri Hayman of Steubenville, Ohio.
