Positano, John Steinbeck, and North Carolina Turkey

In 1953, Positano was a fishing village of about 2000 people when John Steinbeck wrote an essay about it in Harper's Bazaar magazine. Tourism immediately increased, but Positano is still small in population because of its location on the side of a mountain next to the sea.

Steinbeck describes what he found as follows:
"Positano bites deep. It is a dream place that isn’t quite real when you are
there and becomes beckoningly real after you have gone. Its houses climb
a hill so steep it would be a cliff except that stairs are cut in it. I believe that whereas most house foundations are vertical, in Positano they are horizontal. The small curving bay of unbelievably blue and green water
laps gently on a beach of small pebbles. There is only one narrow street and it does not come down to the water. Everything else is stairs, some of them as steep as ladders. You do not walk to visit a friend, you either climb or slide."

This is what is is talking about...buildings stacked almost on top of each other...marching up the hill with stairs as the only access to them. However, today the town is quite different from the town of 1953. Shops line the main street and business seems golden!

Food is abundant and fresh...

And even the dogs are content.

In the late 19th century however, times were not so good for Positano. Formerly a prosperous fishing and trading community, the advent of larger steam ships left Positano behind as commerce moved to larger ports. The population of Positano decreased from about 8000 to about 2000 (its population in 1953)...with more people who were born in Positano living in New York City than were living in Positano! Now the population is up to about 4000, and tourism has brought affluence back to the people.

Steinbeck was in Positano for a respite from the suffocating heat of Rome. He encountered another writer from North Carolina who had been in Positano for a year with his wife while he was writing a book.

When Thanksgiving arrived, the North Carolinians were homesick, so they had a live turkey sent to them in Positano. They had learned in North Carolina that the turkey tastes best if it dies a peaceful death. If the turkey is frightened just before dying, the meat will taste bitter and tough.

Therefore, the they decided to give the turkey Grand Marnier to calm it down. When they went to get the turkey, the turkey flew out to sea.

Positano has people on top of the hills watching the sea at all times to spot schools of fish for the fishermen. The watcher radioed the fishermen who saw the turkey plunge into the sea. They retrieved the turkey and brought it back to the North Carolinians who promptly cooked it and discovered that they could taste the seawater in the meat of the bird. They had a lot to be thankful for that Thanksgiving, especially the kindness of the Positanese.

When Steinbeck says that Positano "bites deep," he is not kidding. I will always carry the charm and beauty of Positano in my soul now that I have discovered its riches!!!