Where Creative Energy Meets Philanthropy

ARTS CULTURE ENTERTAINMENT Steve Bakunas

By Mike Shannon

Rarely does someone come along who has an immediate positive effect on the world around him. Steven Bakunas is that guy. The artist, musician, actor, activist, world traveler and philanthropist is a newcomer to Guanacaste, where he and his wife have just purchased a home. Bakunas’s story is worth relating. His resume of life experiences reads like a grab bag of antidotes to new challenges.

The formative years

Born in 1957 in Milford, Connecticut, Steve enjoyed a typical childhood surrounded by a brother and seven sisters. After his father’s untimely passing when he was 13, Steve continued living in a house full of girls until the ripe age of 16. Then, feeling the need to “broaden my perspective,” he bravely ventured out on his own.

His enterprising spirit and sense of adventure produced a laundry list of unusual vocations: driving a limo for the Grateful Dead, selling used cars, tending bar and becoming an upholsterer. At 21, he actually traveled with a circus. He even lived in a religious cult for five years. Seriously, you can’t make this stuff up!

And if any of those nuggets didn’t raise an eyebrow, in 2005 Bakunas tied the knot with the love of his life, Linda Lavin — better known as Alice on the ‘70s sitcom “Mel’s Diner.” Yes … Alice!

Throughout Bakunas’s life, he has always gravitated toward the arts, activism, adventure and creativity in pursuing what he calls, “the thing.” And though he did not expound on the exact definition of that “thing,” this writer got the impression it is equal parts self-gratification in his artistic endeavors and genuine philanthropy. howlermag.com

Steve revealed, “I’m always surprising himself with dormant talent. We tend to sabotage ourselves by saying, ‘oh, I can’t do that.’ But with minimal training you can get the ball rolling and often, you will realize that you CAN do that.”

This idea is fed by Bakunas ’s belief that you should always be trying new things in life, and at any time in life. Read into this: you’re never too old. It often fills his calendar to the point of distraction where he cautions, “but you must always strive to stay balanced with your occupational diversity.”

Arts and philanthropy

Somehow, Steve has managed to keep that balance while maintaining a very hectic lifestyle. That includes opening the Red Barn Studio Theatre in North Carolina in 2007, where he and Linda wrote, produced and performed in productions for local audiences. In 2017, they built The Country Suites bed and breakfast hotel in upstate New York’s Spencertown, which has recently been rented by the county to serve as a quarantine center during the COVID pandemic. Steve was also a jazz drummer for Linda’s cabaret show and he’s held art exhibits featuring his original paintings.

Photos courtesy of Steve Bakunas ^With Stephen Colbert at the Late Show <Watching stage performance by his wife, Alice

ARTS CULTURE ENTERTAINMENT

After buying eight abandoned houses in a rundown neighborhood, he tore down two and remodeled six, then donated one of the couple’s properties to the town for creating a public park. In the same neighborhood, Steve bought an old repair garage and turned it into a theatre, where he and Linda were cast in a Broadway play written by Carol Burnett and directed by Hal Prince.

It’s exhausting just to write all this down, but this list is not meant to be braggadocious. It is to demonstrate the breadth and pace of Bakunas ’s approach to his life’s work. Even between all these endeavors, the couple continued to explore art, music, theatre and anything else that feeds their creative and philanthropic souls, all the while traveling around the world.

One of Steve’s volunteer projecs with ADI Tamarindo was to organize painting of the lifeguard station.

Endless energy fuels Steven’s constant quest to find what he calls, ‘the thing.’

Costa Rica

In 2019, Steve and Linda’s theatre chops landed them on a cruise ship to Ecuador as onboard performers. When the ship pit-stopped in Puntarenas, Costa Rica, they disembarked to reconnect with their son Jim and his wife, Christa, who had settled in Huacas some time ago and established the private Journey School.

After years traversing the U.S., splitting time between homes in New York and Los Angeles, the couple felt a yearning for a less hectic, non-urban lifestyle. So, this visit served as a good opportunity to explore the possibility of Costa Rica.

It didn’t take long before they both realized, “Wow I really want to be here,” which many of us can very much relate to. With that, Steve made his plans to return to Costa Rica in October 2019 while Linda remained in New York to continue her collaboration with Sarah Silverman on her original play.

Upon his return, Steve quickly surmised that the Tamarindo area was ripe with all that he and Linda were looking for in a nonurban lifestyle: a small town, beach, activities, music and food. So he bought a condo in Langosta and embarked on his quest to assimilate into the local culture. At the ripe age of 62, it was, indeed, time to move on to the next new “thing”.

The first new thing Bakunas did was take Spanish lessons, and he is quite proud that he’s getting good at it quickly. Then he got involved in volunteer activism with ADI Tamarindo, helping the homeless and families in need. He organized efforts to clean up the Tamarindo skatepark and painted the lifeguard station, utilizing and compensating homeless workers to get the jobs done.

Steve even embarked on the lofty task of repairing the infamously terrible road to Langosta, enlisting help from his homeless friends who were more than happy to chip in. This endeavor earned him the moniker, “The Minister of Road Repair.”

In a few short weeks, Bakunas had contributed more to his adopted Costa Rican community than most expats who have been here for 20 years.

Potrait of Alice.

Word carving by Steve.

“Grass roots activism is the best way to get the feel of a new community, get to know the culture and customs of the area, and make lots of new friends,” he told me.

When Linda came down and joined her husband for the year-end holidays, given more time to feel the pura vida vibe, she just completely fell in love with Costa Rica. The couple returned to New York together soon afterwards to fulfill other obligations, right around the time the COVID crisis was getting serious. And never was that more apparent than when Linda was informed that her play was put on hold because the musical composer died from the virus. She remained in New York while Steve scrambled back to Guanacaste before the inevitable travel ban and subsequent lockdown were enforced.

Unfortunately, the global pandemic had different ideas. As of this writing, due to border closures, Bakunas continues to bide his time here in Guanacaste without his wife. As soon as it’s possible, the two will reunite here to pursue the next “thing” in their lives together.

After all, isn’t that what draws most expats to this magical place? What makes this pair exceptional is that Steve and Linda bring far more to the table than they take. Welcome to the neighborhood!

Steve’s beach painting.

Steve’s self-potrait.