You sensed straight away that he was more than a nice guy, something other than a rail-thin, tall soul in a plaid shirt and jeans, looking to help out. Steven, who passed away on May 31, worked hard to convince you that he was a regular gruff Joe, but it was a tough sell.
If you lived in Santa Barbara, you likely met Steven Berg — on his postal routes, serving meals at Transition House, or surfing the outer breaks of local beaches. If you were one of the thousands of annual visitors to the Santa Barbara Vedanta Temple in Montecito, you saw him every evening at 6 p.m. vespers, sitting in the back on the floor.
At Sunday lectures, he was the doorman who welcomed visitors to the temple. “Come in,” he would say, laughing, “everything here is free!” When needed, he was the bouncer to those who might mistake the exquisite 35-acre grounds as ideal for a concert, a yoga studio, or a place to tie one on and get lit.