RE Log Fall 2018

Ȉ, ORRN EDFN DW WKDW WLPH ZLWK ]HUR UHJUHWV , JRW WLPH WR VSHQG ZLWK Py IDPLOy Py JUDQGSDUHQWV DQG WKH JUDQGIDWKHU , DGRUHG /LWWOH GLG , UHDOL]H LW ZDV NLQG RI D VHW XS ȉ – Stephen Sawitz ’75 A branding/media consultant was paid to assist the family during a dinner at Joe’s in 2006 with President George W. Bush. He was admonished by Sawitz’s mother for introducing himself as a “spokesman for Joe’s Stone Crab.” The consultant asked the family matriarch what title she pre- ferred, then ordered new business cards that read: “Friend of the Family.” Shaping up at the Ransom School This is the world in which Sawitz grew up. +H QHYHU NQHZ VWDɣ DV ³VWDɣ ´ +H UHFDOOHG employees by their nicknames: “The 5DEEL ´ ³*UD\ ´ ³6HD %UHH]H ´ 8QOLNH KLV mother, however, he did not reside in an apartment above the restaurant. He lived in a home in Miami Shores with parents Jo Ann and Irwin Sawitz and sister Jodi Hershey. Sawitz’s mother hoped her children would choose another career path. As much as she loved Joe’s and its employees, she understood the all-consuming nature of the hospitality industry. Putting one’s heart and soul into a restaurant requires working nights, weekends, holidays. She wanted to make sure her children had every opportunity to aspire beyond the walls of Joe’s, which is one of the reasons she pulled Sawitz out of his public middle school and sent him to the Ransom School in the eighth grade. She knew Ransom would position him to succeed no matter what career path he chose. “He was making excellent grades, but wasn’t cracking a book,” she said. “I knew there was something wrong somewhere. Then he got to Ransom and he had to work. I loved it for him. I loved the school.” When Sawitz arrived to Ransom from Horace Mann Middle School, he, too, fell in love. No one knew him as the kid from Joe’s. He was just Steve. “I didn’t even know Joe’s place in history,” he said. “I didn’t wear it on my sleeve at all.” He ran cross country. He played soccer under Jim Beverley ’62 on one of the school’s best teams ever. He listened whenever Dan Bowden held court. He knew everyone in his class of just over 50 students. +H DOVR OHDUQHG DERXW HɣRUW DQG UHVXOWV When his grade in algebra dipped below a B, then lower still, he started to worry, WKHQ EHJDQ VKRZLQJ XS IRU WHDFKHU¶V RɤFH hours after school. He asked questions. He started to study. The results were immediate. “He was very hard-working, very intent on making the grade,” Beverley said. “It ZDV WKH VDPH WKLQJ RQ WKH VRFFHU ¿HOG +H worked very hard and very intelligently.” When Sawitz turned 16, his parents bought him a car so they would be spared the long drives to Coconut Grove. But with that automobile came a condition: Sawitz had to work one or two weekend days at Joe’s Stone Crab, and on holidays when help was most needed. “I wasn’t being groomed to take over the business,” he said. “It was just: ‘You’re getting a car, so you’re working.’” He cleaned and peeled shrimp and potatoes, served shifts in the pantry, or “the hole” as it was called, opening clams or oysters, and labored in the dishwash- ing area. Despite the long hours, he deeply appreciated the time with his maternal grandfather, Jesse, who still lived in the apartment above the restaurant. “I look back at that time with zero regrets,” he said. “I got time to spend with my family, my grandparents and the grandfather I adored. Little did I realize, it was kind of a set up.” 6DZLW] DFFHSWHG DQ RɣHU RI FROOHJH DG PLVVLRQ IURP &RUQHOO 8QLYHUVLW\ ZKHUH KH majored in hotel and restaurant manage- ment and tried, for four years, to adjust to the frigid winters in Ithaca, N.Y. He spent his summers at restaurants or programs in the New York area, but instead of get- ting closer to launching into the world beyond the family business, he became increasingly determined to take back to Joe’s what he was learning in college. )$// Ransom Everglades LOG 17