Author and longtime reporter Stephen Albert Seitz died suddenly, at home of congestive heart failure on Nov. 18, 2022. He was born on Dec. 1, 1956. Dying because his heart was too full, something those who loved him will understand was true on many levels.
As a journalist, he cared about fairness and impartiality in reporting. During his six-plus years as a correspondent at The New Hampshire Union Leader, people from across the social and political spectrum would call to thank him for sharing their views accurately. Longtime readers of the Brattleboro Reformer may recall his film reviews and the April Fools’ article in which he wrote that the parking garage was going to be designed by I.M. Paid and would have an aquarium on top, and got a real but joking quote from one local official promising a skateboard ramp from the top of the building down to the rail station.
He was also a freelance reporter for the Mountain Times for nearly a decade.
Seitz loved being a reporter, especially when it allowed him to interview prominent figures from history (such as Tuskegee Airmen), politicians, and celebrities. Some highlights for him were when longtime White House reporter Helen Thomas complimented him on his questioning technique, when Jerry Lewis used him as a straight man during a press conference, and when he got private interviews with actors at science fiction conventions.
Seitz’s first novel, Sherlock Holmes and the Plague of Dracula, has fans around the world and has been translated into Italian. His most recent Sherlock Holmes pastiche, Sherlock Holmes and the House of Pain was ranked 39th on Mystery Tribune’s 106 Best Sherlock Holmes Books For Avid Fans: 2022 Edition. His Ace Herron novels about a Vermont-based crime reporter have gotten good reviews.
Seitz was born in Providence, Rhode Island and attended schools in Chester and Brattleboro before getting his B.A. in communications with a focus on film from the University of Vermont. After graduation, he worked briefly as deejay Maxwell Edison at WKVT before moving to Washington D.C., where he worked a variety of government and private sector jobs, writing the nation’s coal report while at the Department of Energy and working with Watergate special prosecutor Archibald Cox at Common Cause.
Seitz was a lifelong fan of comics, Sherlock Holmes, James Bond, Star Trek, and film. He loved listening to film soundtracks and novelty albums. He was a favorite with small children, dogs, and his wife of 25 years.
Seitz was predeceased by his father John Seitz and his brother James Seitz. He is survived by wife Susan Austin; son Daniel Seitz and his wife, Alaina; his mother Sylvia Adams Seitz; sisters Susan Seitz (Ed Cohen) and Sharon Annis (Eric); sister-in-law Brenda Seitz, extended families on both sides and many nieces and nephews.
