A Tribute to Eve Stwertka, former co-executor of the Mary McCarthy Literary Trust

The Mary McCarthy Society honors the memory of Eve Gassler Stwertka, 99, former co-executor of the Mary McCarthy Literary Trust. With her breadth of experience and learning, keen intelligence and generous spirit, Eve contributed significantly to the legacy of Mary McCarthy in many ways.

Eve was born in Vienna and grew up in Czechoslovakia, France and England. In 1941 she crossed the Atlantic in a convoy of freighters leading through the Panama Canal, landing in Los Angeles. After finishing high school in Manhattan, she joined the first class of women at Bard College, where she met her husband, Albert. 

Eve was Editorial Assistant at Partisan Review and a Fulbright Fellow in France. She obtained a Ph.D. at St. John’s University, worked as Professor of English at Farmingdale College for 25 years and retired as the associate dean of the School of Arts and Sciences. 

Having been Mary McCarthy’s student and amanuensis at Bard, Eve became a close friend of the author. Later, she served for many years as co-executor of the Mary McCarthy Literary Trust with Margo Viscusi. Together they organized a large conference held at Bard and published a book of the conference proceedings entitled TWENTY-FOUR WAYS OF LOOKING AT MARY McCARTHY. She also published some dozen Young Adult books, partly with her husband, on science and the environment.

Eve was the daughter of Austrian Expressionist painter Josef Gassler. She is survived by her husband, her sons Steven and Peter, three grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Thank you to Albert Stwertka for his help with the text and image used in this tribute.