John Steinbeck
“Steinbeck” redirects here. For other people with this pressed in such works as Of Mice and Men.[9] He also
surname, see Steinbeck (surname).
explored his surroundings, walking across local forests,
fields, and farms.[9] While working at Spreckels Sugar
work in their laboratory,
John Ernst Steinbeck, Jr. (February 27, 1902 – De- Company, he would sometimes [10]
which gave him time to write.
He also had considcember 20, 1968) was an American author of twentyerable
mechanical
aptitude
and
fondness
for making his
seven books, including sixteen novels, six non-fiction
own repairs to things he owned.[10]
books, and five collections of short stories. He is widely
known for the comic novels Tortilla Flat (1935) and
Cannery Row (1945), the multi-generation epic East of
Eden (1952), and the novellas Of Mice and Men (1937)
and The Red Pony (1937). The Pulitzer Prize-winning
The Grapes of Wrath (1939), widely attributed to be part
of the American literary canon,[2] is considered Steinbeck’s masterpiece. In the first 75 years since it was published, it sold 14 million copies.[3]
The winner of the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature, he has
been called “a giant of American letters”.[4] His works are
widely read abroad and many of his works are considered
classics of Western literature.
Most of Steinbeck’s work is set in southern and central California, particularly in the Salinas Valley and the The Steinbeck House at 132 Central Avenue, Salinas, California,
the Victorian home where Steinbeck spent his childhood.
California Coast Ranges region. His works frequently explored the themes of fate and injustice, especially as apSteinbeck graduated from Salinas High School in 1919
plied to downtrodden or everyman protagonists.
and went from there to study English Literature at
Stanford University in Palo Alto, leaving, without a degree, in 1925. He travelled to New York City where
1 Early life
he took odd jobs while trying to write. When he failed
to have his work published, he returned to California
John Ernst Steinbeck, Jr. was born on February 27, and worked in 1928 as a tour guide and caretaker[10]
1902, in Salinas, California. He was of German, En- at Lake Tahoe, where he met Carol Henning, his first
glish, and Irish descent.[5] Johann Adolf Großsteinbeck, wife.[6][10][11] The two were married in January 1930 in
Steinbeck’s paternal grandfather, had shortened the fam- Los Angeles, where, with friends, he attempted to make
ily name to Steinbeck when he emigrated to the United money manufacturing plaster mannequins.[10]
States. The family farm in Heiligenhaus, Mettmann, When their money ran out six months later, Steinbeck
North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, is still today named and Carol moved back to Pacific Grove, California, to a
“Großsteinbeck.”
cottage owned by his father, on the Monterey Peninsula
His father, John Ernst Steinbeck, served as Monterey
County treasurer. John’s mother, Olive Hamilton, a former school teacher, shared Steinbeck’s passion for reading and writing.[6] The Steinbecks were members of the
Episcopal Church,[7] although Steinbeck would later become an agnostic.[8] Steinbeck lived in a small rural town,
no more than a frontier settlement, set in some of the
world’s most fertile land.[9] He spent his summers working on nearby ranches and later with migrant workers on
Spreckels sugar beet farms. There he became aware of
the harsher aspects of migrant life and the darker side
of human nature, which supplied him with material ex-
a few blocks from the border of the city of Monterey,
California. The elder Steinbecks gave John free housing,
paper for his manuscripts, and from 1928, loans that allowed him to write without looking for work. During this
period of the Great Depression, Steinbeck bought a small
boat, and later claimed that he was able to live on the fish
and crab that he gathered from the sea, as well as fresh
vegetables from his garden and local farms. When that
didn't work, Steinbeck and his wife were not above getting welfare, or rarely even stealing bacon from the local
produce market.[10] Whatever food they had, they would
share with their friends.[10] Carol became the model for
1
2
2
Mary Talbot in Steinbeck’s novel Cannery Row.[10]
CAREER
trayed in ironic comparison to mythic knights on a quest
and reject nearly all the standard mores of American society in enjoyment of a dissolute life centered around wine,
lust, camaraderie and petty theft. In presenting the 1962
Nobel Prize to Steinbeck, the Swedish Academy cited
“spicy and comic tales about a gang of paisanos, asocial
individuals who, in their wild revels, are almost caricatures of King Arthur’s Knights of the Round Table. It
has been said that in the United States this book came as
a welcome antidote to the gloom of the then prevailing
depression.”[1] Tortilla Flat was adapted as a 1942 film
of the same name, starring Spencer Tracy, Hedy Lamarr
and John Garfield, a friend of Steinbeck’s. With some of
the proceeds he built a summer ranch-home in Los Gatos.
In 1930, Steinbeck met Ed Ricketts, who became a
close friend and mentor to Steinbeck during the following
decade teaching him a great deal about philosophy and
biology.[10] Ricketts, usually very quiet, yet likable, with
an inner self-sufficiency and an encyclopedic knowledge
of diverse subjects, became a focus of Steinbeck’s attention. Ricketts had taken a college class from Warder C.
Allee, a biologist and ecological theorist, who would go
on to write a classic early textbook on ecology. Ricketts
became a proponent of ecological thinking, in which man
was only one part of a great chain of being, caught in a
web of life too large for him to control or understand.[10]
Meanwhile, Ricketts operated a biological lab on the
coast of Monterey, selling biological samples of small an- Steinbeck began to write a series of “California novels”
imals, fish, rays, starfish, turtles, and other marine forms and Dust Bowl fiction, set among common people during
to schools and colleges.
the Great Depression. These included In Dubious Battle,
Between the years 1930 to 1936, Steinbeck and Rick- Of Mice and Men and The Grapes of Wrath.
etts became close friends. Steinbeck’s wife began working at the lab as secretary-bookkeeper.[10] Steinbeck himself began helping out on an informal basis.[10] They
formed a common bond based on their love of music
and art, and John learned biology and Ricketts’ ecological philosophy.[10] When Steinbeck had emotional upsets,
Ricketts would sometimes play music for him.[10]
2
2.1
Career
Writing
Steinbeck’s first novel, Cup of Gold, published in 1929,
is loosely based on the life and death of privateer Henry
Morgan. It centers on Morgan’s assault and sacking of
the city of Panama, sometimes referred to as the 'Cup of
Gold', and on the women, fairer than the sun, who were
said to be found there.[12]
Of Mice and Men was a drama about the dreams of a
pair of migrant agricultural laborers in California. It was
critically acclaimed[12] and Steinbeck’s 1962 Nobel Prize
citation called it a “little masterpiece”.[1] Its stage production was a hit, starring Wallace Ford as George and
starring Broderick Crawford as George’s companion - the
mentally childlike but physically powerful itinerant farmhand Lennie. Steinbeck refused to travel from his home
in California to attend any performance of the play during its New York run, telling director George S. Kaufman
that the play as it existed in his own mind was “perfect”
and that anything presented on stage would only be a disappointment. Steinbeck would write two more stage plays
(The Moon Is Down and Burning Bright).
Of Mice and Men was also adapted as a 1939 Hollywood
film, with Lon Chaney, Jr. as Lennie (he had filled the
role in the Los Angeles stage production) and Burgess
Meredith as George.[13] Meredith and Steinbeck became
close friends for the next two decades.[10] Another film
based on the novella was made in 1992 starring Gary
After Cup of Gold, between 1930 and 1933 Steinbeck Sinise as George and John Malkovich as Lennie.
produced three shorter works. The Pastures of Heaven,
Steinbeck followed this wave of success with The Grapes
published in 1932, consists of twelve interconnected stoof Wrath (1939), based on newspaper articles about miries about a valley near Monterey, which was discovgrant agricultural workers that he had written in San Franered by a Spanish corporal while chasing runaway Indian
cisco. It is commonly considered his greatest work. Acslaves. In 1933 Steinbeck published The Red Pony, a 100cording to The New York Times, it was the best-selling
page, four-chapter story weaving in memories of Steinbook of 1939 and 430,000 copies had been printed by
beck’s childhood.[12] To a God Unknown, named after a
February 1940. In that month it won the National Book
Vedic hymn,[10] follows the life of a homesteader and his
Award, favorite fiction book of 1939, voted by members
family in California, depicting a character with a primal
of the American Booksellers Association.[14] Later that
and pagan worship of the land he works. Although he
year it won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction[15] and it was
still had not achieved the status of a well-known writer,
adapted as a film directed by John Ford, starring Henry
he never doubted that he would achieve greatness.[10]
Fonda as Tom Joad; Fonda was nominated for the best
Steinbeck achieved his first critical success with Tortilla actor Academy Award.
Flat (1935), a novel set in post-war Monterey, CaliforGrapes was controversial. Steinbeck’s New Deal politnia, that won the California Commonwealth Club's Gold
ical views, negative portrayal of aspects of capitalism,
[12]
Medal. It portrays the adventures of a group of classand sympathy for the plight of workers, led to a backlash
less and usually homeless young men in Monterey after
against the author, especially close to home.[16] ClaimWorld War I, just before U.S. prohibition. They are por-
2.3
1940s–1960s work
3
ing the book was both obscene and misrepresented con- 2.3 1940s–1960s work
ditions in the county, the Kern County Board of Supervisors banned the book from the county’s publicly funded
schools and libraries in August 1939. This ban lasted un- Steinbeck’s novel The Moon Is Down (1942), about the
Socrates-inspired spirit of resistance in an occupied viltil January 1941.[17]
lage in Northern Europe, was made into a film almost
Of the controversy, Steinbeck wrote, “The vilification of
immediately. It was presumed that the unnamed counme out here from the large landowners and bankers is
try of the novel was Norway and the occupiers the Nazis,
pretty bad. The latest is a rumor started by them that
and in 1945 Steinbeck received the Haakon VII Cross of
the Okies hate me and have threatened to kill me for lyfreedom for his literary contributions to the Norwegian
ing about them. I'm frightened at the rolling might of this
resistance movement.
damned thing. It is completely out of hand; I mean a kind
of hysteria about the book is growing that is not healthy.” In 1943, Steinbeck served as a World War II war correspondent for the New York Herald Tribune and worked
The film versions of The Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice
with the Office of Strategic Services (predecessor of the
and Men (by two different movie studios) were in proCIA).[22] It was at that time he became friends with Will
duction simultaneously, allowing Steinbeck to spend a full
Lang, Jr. of Time/Life magazine. During the war, Steinday on the set of The Grapes of Wrath and the next day
beck accompanied the commando raids of Douglas Fairon the set of Of Mice and Men.
banks, Jr.'s Beach Jumpers program, which launched
small-unit diversion operations against German-held islands in the Mediterranean. At one point, he accompanied Fairbanks on an invasion of an island off the coast
of Italy and helped capture Italian and German prisoners,
2.2 Ed Ricketts
using a Tommy Gun. Some of his writings from this period were incorporated in the documentary Once There
In the 1930s and 1940s, Ed Ricketts strongly influenced Was a War (1958).
Steinbeck’s writing. Steinbeck frequently took small trips Steinbeck returned from the war with a number of
with Ricketts along the California coast to give himself wounds from shrapnel and some psychological trauma.
time off from his writing[18] and to collect biological spec- He treated himself, as ever, by writing. He wrote
imens, which Ricketts sold for a living. Their joint book Alfred Hitchcock's Lifeboat (1944), and the film A Medal
about a collecting expedition to the Gulf of California in for Benny (1945) with screenwriter Jack Wagner about
1940, which was part travelogue and part natural history, paisanos from Tortilla Flat going to war. He later republished just as the U.S. entered World War II, never quested that his name be removed from the credits of
found an audience and did not sell well.[18] However, in Lifeboat because he believed the final version of the film
1951, Steinbeck republished the narrative portion of the had racist undertones. In 1944, suffering from homebook as The Log from the Sea of Cortez, under his name sickness for his Pacific Grove/Monterey life of the 1930s,
only (though Ricketts had written some of it). This work he wrote Cannery Row (1945) which became so famous
remains in print today.[19]
that Ocean View Avenue in Monterey, the location of the
Although Carol accompanied Steinbeck on the trip, their
marriage was beginning to suffer, and ended a year later,
in 1941, even as Steinbeck worked on the manuscript for
the book.[10] In 1942, after his divorce from Carol he
married Gwyndolyn “Gwyn” Conger.[20] With his second
wife Steinbeck had two sons—Thomas (“Thom”) Myles
Steinbeck (born 1944) and John Steinbeck IV (1946–
1991).
Ricketts was Steinbeck’s model for the character of “Doc”
in Cannery Row (1945) and Sweet Thursday (1954),
“Friend Ed” in Burning Bright, and characters in In Dubious Battle (1936) and The Grapes of Wrath (1939).
Ecological themes recur in Steinbeck’s novels of the
period.[21]
Steinbeck’s close relations with Ricketts ended in 1941
when Steinbeck moved away from Pacific Grove and divorced his wife Carol.[18] Ricketts’ biographer Eric Enno
Tamm notes that, except for East of Eden (1952), Steinbeck’s writing declined after Ricketts’ untimely death in
1948.[21]
book, was eventually renamed Cannery Row in 1958.
After the end of the war, he wrote The Pearl (1947), already knowing it would be filmed. The story first appeared in the December 1945 issue of Woman’s Home
Companion magazine as “The Pearl of the World.” It was
illustrated by John Alan Maxwell. The novel is an imaginative telling of a story which Steinbeck had heard in La
Paz in 1940, as related in The Log From the Sea of Cortez,
which he described in Chapter 11 as being “so much
like a parable that it almost can't be”. Steinbeck traveled to Mexico for the filming with Wagner who helped
with the script; on this trip he would be inspired by the
story of Emiliano Zapata, and subsequently wrote a film
script (Viva Zapata!) directed by Elia Kazan and starring
Marlon Brando and Anthony Quinn.
In 1947, Steinbeck made the first of many trips to
the Soviet Union, this one with photographer Robert
Capa. They visited Moscow, Kiev, Tbilisi, Batumi and
Stalingrad, some of the first Americans to visit many parts
of the USSR since the communist revolution. Steinbeck’s
4
1948 book about their experiences, A Russian Journal,
was illustrated with Capa’s photos. In 1948, the year
the book was published, Steinbeck was elected to the
American Academy of Arts and Letters.
2
CAREER
expounder of the truth with an unbiased instinct for what
is genuinely American, be it good or bad.”[1]
Apparently taken aback by the critical reception of this
novel, and the critical outcry when he was awarded the
In 1952 Steinbeck’s longest novel, East of Eden, was pub- Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962,[25] Steinbeck published. According to his third wife, Elaine, he considered lished no more fiction in the next six years before his
it his magnum opus, his greatest novel.
death.
In 1952, John Steinbeck appeared as the on-screen narrator of 20th Century Fox's film, O. Henry’s Full House.
Although Steinbeck later admitted he was uncomfortable
before the camera, he provided interesting introductions
to several filmed adaptations of short stories by the legendary writer O. Henry. About the same time, Steinbeck recorded readings of several of his short stories for
Columbia Records; despite some stiffness, the recordings
provide a record of Steinbeck’s deep, resonant voice.
2.4 Nobel Prize
In 1962, Steinbeck won the Nobel Prize for literature
for his “realistic and imaginative writing, combining as
it does sympathetic humor and keen social perception.”
The selection was heavily criticized, and described as
“one of the Academy’s biggest mistakes” in one Swedish
newspaper.[25] The reaction of American literary critics
Following the success of Viva Zapata!, Steinbeck collab- was also harsh. The New York Times asked why the Noorated with Kazan on East of Eden, James Dean's film bel committee gave the award to an author whose “limited
talent is, in his best books, watered down by tenth-rate
debut.
philosophising”, noting that "[T]he international character of the award and the weight attached to it raise questions about the mechanics of selection and how close the
Nobel committee is to the main currents of American
writing.... [W]e think it interesting that the laurel was not
awarded to a writer ... whose significance, influence and
sheer body of work had already made a more profound
impression on the literature of our age”.[25] Steinbeck
himself, when asked on the day of the announcement if
he deserved the Nobel, replied: “Frankly, no.”[10][25] Biographer Jackson Benson notes, "[T]his honor was one of
the few in the world that one could not buy nor gain by
political maneuver. It was precisely because the committee made its judgment ... on its own criteria, rather than
plugging into 'the main currents of American writing' as
Rocinante, camper truck in which Steinbeck traveled across the defined by the critical establishment, that the award had
United States in 1960
value.”[10][25] In his acceptance speech later in the year in
Stockholm, he said:
Travels with Charley (subtitle: In Search of America) is a
travelogue of his 1960 road trip with his poodle Charley.
the writer is delegated to declare and to
Steinbeck bemoans his lost youth and roots, while discelebrate man’s proven capacity for greatness
pensing both criticism and praise for America. Accordof heart and spirit—for gallantry in defeat, for
ing to Steinbeck’s son Thom, Steinbeck went on the trip
courage, compassion and love. In the endless
because he knew he was dying and wanted to see the
war against weakness and despair, these are
country one last time.[23]
the bright rally flags of hope and of emulation.
I hold that a writer who does not believe in
Steinbeck’s last novel, The Winter of Our Discontent
the perfectibility of man has no dedication nor
(1961), examines moral decline in America. The proany membership in literature.
tagonist Ethan grows discontented with his own moral
—Steinbeck Nobel Prize Acceptance
decline and that of those around him.[24] The book is
Speech[26]
very different in tone from Steinbeck’s amoral and ecological stance in earlier works like Tortilla Flat and Cannery Row. It was not a critical success. Many reviewers
recognized the importance of the novel but were disap- In 2012, (50 years later), the Nobel Prize opened its
pointed that it was not another Grapes of Wrath.[24] In archives and it was revealed that Steinbeck was a “comthe Nobel Prize presentation speech next year, however, promise choice” among a shortlist consisting of Steinthe Swedish Academy cited it most favorably: “Here he beck, British authors Robert Graves and Lawrence Durattained the same standard which he set in The Grapes rell, French dramatist Jean Anouilh and Danish author
of Wrath. Again he holds his position as an independent Karen Blixen.[25] The declassified documents showed that
5
he was chosen as the best of a bad lot,[25] “There aren't
any obvious candidates for the Nobel prize and the prize
committee is in an unenviable situation,” wrote committee member Henry Olsson.[25] Although the committee
believed Steinbeck’s best work was behind him by 1962,
committee member Anders Österling believed the release
of his new novel The Winter of Our Discontent in 1961
showed that “after some signs of slowing down in recent
years, [Steinbeck has] regained his position as a social
truth-teller [and is an] authentic realist fully equal to his
predecessors Sinclair Lewis and Ernest Hemingway.”[25]
of Mount Hope, a farm community established in Israel
by his grandfather, whose brother, Friedrich Grosssteinbeck, was murdered by Arab marauders in 1858 in what
became known as the Outrages at Jaffa.[30]
4 Death and legacy
Although modest about his own talent as a writer, Steinbeck talked openly of his own admiration of certain writers. In 1953, he wrote that he considered cartoonist Al
Capp, creator of the satirical Li'l Abner, “possibly the best
writer in the world today.”[27] At his own first Nobel Prize
press conference he was asked his favorite authors and
works and replied: "Hemingway's short stories and nearly
everything Faulkner wrote.”[10]
In September 1964, Steinbeck was awarded the
Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Lyndon B.
Johnson.
In 1967, at the behest of Newsday magazine, Steinbeck
went to Vietnam to report on the war there. Thinking of
the Vietnam War as a heroic venture, he was considered
a hawk for his position on that war. His sons both served
in Vietnam prior to his death, and Steinbeck visited one
son in the battlefield (at one point being allowed to man
a machine-gun watch position at night at a firebase, while
his son and other members of his platoon slept).[28]
The Steinbeck family graves in the Hamilton plot at the Salinas
Cemetery
John Steinbeck died in New York City on December 20,
1968, of heart disease and congestive heart failure. He
was 66, and had been a lifelong smoker. An autopsy
showed nearly complete occlusion of the main coronary
arteries.[12]
In accordance with his wishes, his body was cremated,
and interred on March 4, 1969[31] at the Hamilton family
gravesite in Salinas, with those of his parents and mater3 Personal life
nal grandparents. His third wife, Elaine, was buried in
the plot in 2004. He had earlier written to his doctor that
In May 1948, Steinbeck went back to California on an he felt deeply “in his flesh” that he would not survive his
emergency trip to be with his friend Ed Ricketts, who had physical death, and that the biological end of his life was
been seriously injured when his car was struck by a train. the final end to it.[18]
Ricketts died hours before Steinbeck arrived. Upon re- The day after Steinbeck’s death in New York City, returning home, Steinbeck was confronted by Gwyn, who viewer Charles Poore wrote in the New York Times: “John
asked for a divorce, which became final in August. Stein- Steinbeck’s first great book was his last great book. But
beck spent the year after Ricketts’ death in deep depres- Good Lord, what a book that was and is: The Grapes
sion.
of Wrath.” Poore noted a “preachiness” in Steinbeck’s
In June 1949, Steinbeck met stage-manager Elaine Scott
at a restaurant in Carmel, California. Steinbeck and Scott
eventually began a relationship and in December 1950
Steinbeck and Scott married, within a week of the finalizing of Scott’s own divorce from actor Zachary Scott.
This third marriage for Steinbeck lasted until his death in
1968.[12]
In 1962 Steinbeck began acting as friend and mentor to
the young writer and naturalist Jack Rudloe, who was trying to establish his own biological supply company, now
Gulf Specimen Marine Laboratory in Florida. Their correspondence continued until his death.[29]
work, “as if half his literary inheritance came from the
best of Mark Twain— and the other half from the worst
of Cotton Mather.” But he asserted that “Steinbeck didn't
need the Nobel Prize— the Nobel judges needed him.”
Steinbeck’s incomplete novel based on the King Arthur
legends of Malory and others, The Acts of King Arthur
and His Noble Knights, was published in 1976.
Many of Steinbeck’s works are on required reading lists
in American high schools. In the United Kingdom, Of
Mice and Men is one of the key texts used by the examining body AQA for its English Literature GCSE. A study
by the Center for the Learning and Teaching of LiteraIn 1966, Steinbeck traveled to Tel Aviv to visit the site ture in the United States found that Of Mice and Men was
6
4
DEATH AND LEGACY
one of the ten most frequently read books in public high tic voice by drawing upon direct memories of his life in
schools.[32]
California. His childhood friend, Max Wagner, a brother
At the same time, The Grapes of Wrath has been banned of Jack Wagner and who later became a film actor, served
by school boards: in August 1939, Kern County Board of as inspiration for The Red Pony. Later he used real AmerSupervisors banned the book from the county’s publicly ican historical conditions and events in the first half of
funded schools and libraries.[17] It was burned in Salinas the 20th century, which he had experienced first-hand
on two different occasions.[33][34] In 2003, a school board as a reporter. Steinbeck often populated his stories with
in Mississippi banned it on the grounds of profanity.[35] struggling characters; his works examined the lives of the
working class and migrant workers during the Dust Bowl
According to the American Library Association Steinbeck was one of the ten most frequently banned authors and the Great Depression.
from 1990 to 2004, with Of Mice and Men ranking sixth His later work reflected his wide range of interests, inout of 100 such books in the United States.[36][37]
cluding marine biology, politics, religion, history and
mythology. One of his last published works was Travels
with Charley, a travelogue of a road trip he took in 1960
to rediscover America.
4.1 Opinions on Nobel Prize
The award of the 1962 Nobel Prize for Literature to
Steinbeck was controversial in the United States. The 4.3
award citation lauded Steinbeck “for his realistic and
imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic
humour and keen social perception”. Many critics of the
award of the Nobel to Steinbeck complained that the author’s best work were behind him. The New York Times
ran an article by Arthur Mizener entitled “Does a Writer
with a Moral Vision of the 1930s Deserve the Nobel
Prize?” that claimed Steinbeck was undeserving of the
prestigious prize as he was a “limited talent” whose works
were “watered down by tenth-rate philosophizing”. Many
American critics now consider these attacks to be politically motivated.[38]
Commemoration
The British newspaper The Guardian, in a 2013 article that revealed that Steinbeck had been a compromise
choice for the Nobel Prize, called him a “Giant of American Letters.” Despite ongoing attacks on his literary rep- Cannery Row in Monterey
utation, Steinbeck’s works continue to sell well and he is
widely taught in American and British schools as a bridge
to more complex literature. Works such as Of Mice and
Men are short and easy to read, and compassionately illustrate universal themes that are still relevant in the 21st
Century.[4]
4.2
Literary influences
Steinbeck grew up in California’s Salinas Valley, a culturally diverse place with a rich migratory and immigrant history. This upbringing imparted a regionalistic
flavor to his writing, giving many of his works a distinct
sense of place.[9][12] Salinas, Monterey and parts of the
San Joaquin Valley were the setting for many of his stories. The area is now sometimes referred to as “Steinbeck Country”.[18] Most of his early work dealt with subjects familiar to him from his formative years. An exception was his first novel, Cup of Gold, which concerns
the pirate Henry Morgan, whose adventures had captured
Steinbeck’s imagination as a child.
National Steinbeck Center in Salinas, California
Steinbeck’s boyhood home, a turreted Victorian building
in downtown Salinas, has been preserved and restored by
the Valley Guild, a nonprofit organization. Fixed menu
lunches are served Monday through Saturday, and the
house is open for tours during the summer on Sunday
In his subsequent novels, Steinbeck found a more authen- afternoons.[39]
7
The National Steinbeck Center, two blocks away at 1
Main Street is the only museum in the U.S. dedicated to a
single author. Dana Gioia (chair of the National Endowment for the Arts) told an audience at the center, “This is
really the best modern literary shrine in the country, and
I've seen them all.” Its “Steinbeckiana” includes “Rocinante,” the camper-truck in which Steinbeck made the
cross-country trip described in Travels with Charley.
His father’s cottage on Eleventh Street in Pacific Grove,
where Steinbeck wrote some of his earliest books, also
survives.[18]
In Monterey, Ed Ricketts’ laboratory survives (though it
is not yet open to the public) and at the corner which
Steinbeck describes in Cannery Row, also the store which
once belonged to Lee Chong, and the adjacent vacant lot
frequented by the hobos of Cannery Row. The site of
the Hovden Sardine Cannery next to Doc’s laboratory is
now occupied by the Monterey Bay Aquarium. However,
the street that Steinbeck described as “Cannery Row” in
the novel, once named Ocean View Avenue, was renamed
Cannery Row in honor of the novel, in 1958. The town of
Monterey has commemorated Steinbeck’s work with an
avenue of flags depicting characters from Cannery Row,
historical plaques, and sculptured busts depicting Steinbeck and Ricketts.[18]
On February 27, 1979 (the 77th anniversary of the
John Steinbeck, with his 19-year-old son John (left), visits his
writer’s birth), the United States Postal Service issued a
friend, President Johnson, in the Oval Office, May 16, 1966.
stamp featuring Steinbeck, starting the Postal Service’s John Jr. is shortly to leave for active duty in Vietnam.
Literary Arts series honoring American writers.[40]
On December 5, 2007, California Governor Arnold
Schwarzenegger and First Lady Maria Shriver inducted
Steinbeck into the California Hall of Fame, located at the
California Museum for History, Women and the Arts.[41]
His son, author Thomas Steinbeck, accepted the award
on his behalf.
Documents released by the Central Intelligence Agency
To commemorate the 112th anniversary of Mr. Stein- in 2012 indicate that Steinbeck offered his services to the
beck’s birthday on February 27, 2014, Google displayed Agency in 1952, while planning a European tour, and the
Bedell
an interactive doodle utilizing animation which included Director of Central Intelligence himself, Walter
[48]
Smith,
was
eager
to
take
him
up
on
the
offer.
What
illustrations portraying scenes and quotes from several
work,
if
any,
Steinbeck
may
have
performed
for
the
CIA
[42][43][44]
novels by the author.
during the Cold War is unknown.
5
Political views
Steinbeck’s contacts with leftist authors, journalists, and
labor union figures may have influenced his writing and
he joined the League of American Writers, a Communist organization, in 1935.[45] Steinbeck was mentored by
radical writers Lincoln Steffens and his wife Ella Winter.
Through Francis Whitaker, a member of the Communist
Party USA’s John Reed Club for writers, Steinbeck met
with strike organizers from the Cannery and Agricultural
Workers’ Industrial Union.[46] In 1939, he signed a letter with some other writers in support of the Soviet invasion of Finland and the Soviet-established puppet government.[47]
Steinbeck was a close associate of playwright Arthur
Miller. In June 1957, Steinbeck took a personal and
professional risk by standing up for him when Miller refused to name names in the House Un-American Activities Committee trials.[33] Steinbeck called the period one
of the “strangest and most frightening times a government
and people have ever faced.”[33]
In 1967, when he was sent to Vietnam to report on the
war, his sympathetic portrayal of the United States Army
led the New York Post to denounce him for betraying
his liberal past. Steinbeck’s biographer, Jay Parini, says
Steinbeck’s friendship with President Lyndon B. Johnson
influenced his views on Vietnam.[12] Steinbeck may also
have been concerned about the safety of his son serving
in Vietnam.
8
5.1
8 FILMOGRAPHY
Government harassment
Steinbeck complained publicly about government harassment. Thomas Steinbeck, the author’s eldest son, said that
J. Edgar Hoover, director of the FBI at the time, could
find no basis for prosecuting Steinbeck and therefore used
his power to encourage the U.S. Internal Revenue Service
to audit Steinbeck’s taxes every single year of his life,
just to annoy him. According to Thomas, a true artist
is one who “without a thought for self, stands up against
the stones of condemnation, and speaks for those who are
given no real voice in the halls of justice, or the halls of
government. By doing so these people will naturally become the enemies of the political status quo.”[49]
6.3
The Grapes of Wrath
Main article: The Grapes of Wrath
The Grapes of Wrath is set in the Great Depression and
describes a family of sharecroppers, the Joads, who were
driven from their land due to the dust storms of the Dust
Bowl. The title is a reference to the Battle Hymn of the
Republic. Some critics found it too sympathetic to the
workers’ plight and too critical of capitalism but it found
quite a large audience in the working class. It won both
the National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize for fiction
(novels) and was adapted as a film starring Henry Fonda
and directed by John Ford.
In a 1942 letter to United States Attorney General
Francis Biddle, John Steinbeck wrote: “Do you suppose you could ask Edgar’s boys to stop stepping on my 6.4 East of Eden
heels? They think I am an enemy alien. It is getting
tiresome.”[50] The FBI denied that Steinbeck was under Main article: East of Eden (novel)
investigation.
Steinbeck deals with the nature of good and evil in this
Salinas Valley saga. The story follows two families: the
Hamiltons – based on Steinbeck’s own maternal ances6 Major works
try – and the Trasks, reprising stories about the Biblical
Adam and his progeny. The book was published in 1952.
It was made into a movie in 1955 directed by Elia Kazan
6.1 In Dubious Battle
starring James Dean.
Main article: In Dubious Battle
6.5
In 1936, Steinbeck published the first of what came to be
known as his Dustbowl trilogy, which included Of Mice
and Men and The Grapes of Wrath. This first novel tells
the story of a fruit pickers’ strike in California which is
both aided and damaged by the help of “the Party,” generally taken to be the Communist Party, although this is
never spelled out in the book.
6.2
Of Mice and Men
Main article: Of Mice and Men
Of Mice and Men is a tragedy that was written in the
form of a play in 1937. The story is about two traveling ranch workers, George and Lennie, trying to work
up enough money to buy their own farm/ranch. As it
is set in 1930s America, it provides an insight into The
Great Depression, encompassing themes of racism, loneliness, prejudice against the mentally ill, and the struggle
for personal independence. Along with The Grapes of
Wrath, East of Eden, and The Pearl, Of Mice and Men is
one of Steinbeck’s best known works. It was made into
a movie three times, in 1939 starring Burgess Meredith,
Lon Chaney Jr., and Betty Field, in 1982 starring Randy
Quaid, Robert Blake and Ted Neeley, and in 1992 starring Gary Sinise and John Malkovich.
Travels with Charley
Main article: Travels with Charley: In Search of America
In 1960, Steinbeck bought a pickup truck and had it
modified with a custom-built camper top – which was
rare at the time – and drove across the United States
with his faithful 'blue' standard poodle, Charley. Steinbeck nicknamed his truck Rocinante after Don Quixote's
“noble steed”. In this sometimes comical, sometimes
melancholic book, Steinbeck describes what he sees from
Maine to Montana to California, and from there to Texas
and Louisiana and back to his home on Long Island. The
restored camper truck is on exhibit in the National Steinbeck Center in Salinas.
7 Bibliography
8 Filmography
• 1939—Of Mice and Men—directed by Lewis Milestone, featuring Burgess Meredith, Lon Chaney, Jr.,
and Betty Field
• 1940—The Grapes of Wrath—directed by John
Ford, featuring Henry Fonda, Jane Darwell and John
Carradine
9
• 1941—The Forgotten Village—directed by
Alexander Hammid and Herbert Kline, narrated by Burgess Meredith, music by Hanns
Eisler
• 1942—Tortilla Flat—directed by Victor Fleming,
featuring Spencer Tracy, Hedy Lamarr and John
Garfield
• 1943—The Moon is Down—directed by Irving
Pichel, featuring Lee J. Cobb and Sir Cedric Hardwicke
• 1944—Lifeboat—directed by Alfred Hitchcock,
featuring Tallulah Bankhead, Hume Cronyn, and
John Hodiak
• 1944—A Medal for Benny—directed by Irving
Pichel, featuring Dorothy Lamour and Arturo de
Cordova
• 1947—La Perla (The Pearl, Mexico)—directed by
Emilio Fernández, featuring Pedro Armendáriz and
María Elena Marqués
• 1949—The Red Pony—directed by Lewis Milestone, featuring Myrna Loy, Robert Mitchum, and
Louis Calhern
• 1952—Viva Zapata!—directed by Elia Kazan, featuring Marlon Brando, Anthony Quinn and Jean Peters
[1] The Swedish Academy cited The Grapes of Wrath and The
Winter of Our Discontent most favorably.
“The Nobel Prize in Literature 1962: Presentation Speech
by Anders Österling, Permanent Secretary of the Swedish
Academy”. NobelPrize.org. Retrieved April 21, 2008.
[2] Bryer, R. Jackson (1989). Sixteen Modern American Authors, Volume 2. Durham, NC: Duke University Press. p.
620. ISBN 978-0822310181.
[3] Chilton, Martin. “The Grapes of Wrath: 10 surprising
facts about John Steinbeck’s novel”. Telegraph (London).
Retrieved 6 December 2014.
[4] “Who, what, why: Why do children study Of Mice and
Men?". BBC. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
[5] “Okie Faces & Irish Eyes: John Steinbeck & Route 66”.
Irish America. Retrieved 2012-10-23.
[6] John Steinbeck Biography at the Wayback Machine
(archived March 5, 2010). National Steinbeck Centre
[7] Alec Gilmore.
gilco.org.uk
John Steinbeck’s View of God.
[8] Jackson J. Benson (1984). The true adventures of John
Steinbeck, writer: a biography. Viking Press. p. 248.
ISBN 978-0-670-16685-5. Ricketts did not convert his
friend to a religious point of view—Steinbeck remained
an agnostic and, essentially, a materialist—but Ricketts’s
religious acceptance did tend to work on his friend,...
[9] Introduction to John Steinbeck, The Long Valley, pp. 9–
10, John Timmerman, Penguin Publishing, 1995
• 1955—East of Eden—directed by Elia Kazan, featuring James Dean, Julie Harris, Jo Van Fleet, and
Raymond Massey
[10] Jackson J. Benson, The True Adventures of John Steinbeck,
Writer New York: The Viking Press, 1984. ISBN 0-14014417-X, pp. 147, 915a, 915b, 133
• 1957—The Wayward Bus—directed by Victor Vicas, featuring Rick Jason, Jayne Mansfield, and Joan
Collins
[11] Introduction to 'The Grapes of Wrath' Penguin edition
(1192) by Robert DeMott
• 1961—Flight—featuring Efrain Ramírez and Arnelia Cortez
• 1962—Ikimize bir dünya (Of Mice and Men,
Turkey)
• 1972—Topoli (Of Mice and Men, Iran)
• 1982—Cannery Row—directed by David S. Ward,
featuring Nick Nolte and Debra Winger
• 1992—Of Mice and Men—directed by Gary Sinise
and starring John Malkovich and Gary Sinise
9
10 Notes
See also
• Pigasus – A personal stamp used by Steinbeck.
[12] Jay Parini, John Steinbeck: A Biography, Holt Publishing,
1996
[13] “Of Mice and Men (1939)". The Internet Movie
Database. Retrieved October 10, 2007.
[14] “1939 Book Awards Given by Critics: Elgin Groseclose’s
'Ararat' is Picked as Work Which Failed to Get Due
Recognition”, The New York Times, February 14, 1940,
p. 25. ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York
Times (1851–2007).
[15] “Novel” (Winners 1917–1947). The Pulitzer Prizes. Retrieved January 28, 2012.
[16] Keith Windschuttle (2002-06-02). “Steinbeck’s myth of
the Okies” at the Wayback Machine (archived February
4, 2004). The New Criterion.
[17] Steinbecks works banned at the Wayback Machine
(archived October 5, 2006). pacific.net.au
[18] Susan Shillinglaw (2006). “A Journey into Steinbeck’s
California”. Roaring Forties Press.
10
[19] A website devoted to Sea of Cortez literature, with information on Steinbeck’s expedition. Retrieved July 6, 2009.
[20] Fensch, Thomas (2002). Steinbeck and Covici. New Century exceptional lives. New Century Books. p. 33. ISBN
978-0-930751-35-7.
[21] Bruce Robison, “Mavericks on Cannery Row,” American
Scientist, vol. 92, no. 6 (November–December 2004), p.
1: a review of Eric Enno Tamm, Beyond the Outer Shores:
The Untold Odyssey of Ed Ricketts, the Pioneering Ecologist who Inspired John Steinbeck and Joseph Campbell,
Four Walls Eight Windows, 2004.
[22] Introduction to The Moon Is Down (Penguin) published
1995, by Donald V. Coers
[23] Steinbeck knew he was dying,” September 13, 2006. Audio interview with Thom Steinbeck
11
REFERENCES
[38] Johnson, Eric. “John Steinbeck, despised and dismissed
by the right and the left, was a real American radical”.
Monterey County Weekly. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
[39] John Steinbeck’s Home and Birthplace at the Wayback
Machine (archived October 16, 2006), Information Point.
Retrieved 2007.
[40] “Pulitzer Prize-Winning Author Gets ‘Stamp of Approval’". United States Postal Service. February 21, 2008.
Retrieved March 15, 2008.
[41] Steinbeck inducted into California Hall of Fame, California Museum. Retrieved 2007.
[42] Laura Stampler (February 27, 2014). “Google Doodle
Celebrates John Steinbeck”. Time, Inc. Retrieved March
8, 2014.
[24] Cynthia Burkhead, The students companion to John Steinbeck, Greenwood Press, 2002, p. 24 ISBN 0-313-314578
[43] Alison Flood (February 27, 2014). “John Steinbeck:
Google Doodle pays tribute to author on 112th anniversary”. The Guardian. Retrieved March 8, 2014.
[25] Alison Flood (3 January 2013). “Swedish Academy reopens controversy surrounding Steinbeck’s Nobel prize”.
The Guardian. Retrieved January 3, 2013.
[44] Carolyn Kellogg (February 27, 2014). “Google Doodle celebrates the work of John Steinbeck”. Los Angeles
Times. Retrieved March 8, 2014.
[26] Steinbeck Nobel Prize Banquet Speech. Nobelprize.org
(December 10, 1962). Retrieved August 26, 2011.
[45] Dave Stancliff (February 24, 2013). “Remembering John
Steinbeck, a great American writer”. Times-Standard.
Retrieved June 28, 2014.
[27] ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive: Biography: Al
Capp 2- A CAPPital Offense at the Wayback Machine
(archived March 24, 2009). animationarchive.org (May
2008).
[28] Steinbeck, A Life in Letters.
[29] T. Manning, Matos S., Addler B. “Hidden Treasure The
Steinbeck-Rudloe Letters”, Steinbeck Studies, San Jose
University, 2005 Vol 16, No 1&2, pg 109-117
[30] Perry, Yaron.“John Steinbeck’s Roots in NineteenthCentury Palestine.” Steinbeck Studies 15.1 (Spring 2004):
46-72. www.muse.jhu.edu. Retrieved on August 26,
2011.
[31] Burial in timeline at this site, taken from '''Steinbeck: A
Life in Letters’''. Steinbeck.org. Retrieved on August 26,
2011.
[32] Books taught in Schools, Center for the Learning and
Teaching of Literature. Retrieved 2007.
[33] Jackson J. Benson, John Steinbeck, Writer: A Biography,
Penguin, 1990 ISBN 0-14-014417-X
[34] The Grapes of Wrath Burnt in Salinas, National Steinbeck
Centre. Retrieved 2007.
[46] Steinbeck and radicalism New Criterion. Retrieved 2007.
[47] “Terijoen hallitus sai outoa tukea” [The Terijoki Government received odd support]. Helsingin Sanomat (in
Finnish). November 29, 2009.
[48] Brian Kannard, Steinbeck: Citizen Spy, Grave Distractions, 2013 ISBN 978-0-9890293-9-1, pp. 15–17.
The correspondence is also available at http://www.
steinbeckcitizenspy.com/steinebeck-1952-letter.php
[49] Huffington Post, September 27, 2010, John Steinbeck,
Michael Moore, and the Burgeoning Role of Planetary Patriotism
[50] Steinbeck Political Beliefs, Smoking Gun Part 1. Retrieved 2007.
11 References
• DeMott, Robert and Steinbeck, Elaine A., eds. John
Steinbeck, Novels and Stories 1932–1937 (Library of
America, 1994) ISBN 978-1-883011-01-7
[36] Steinbeck 10 most banned list at the Wayback Machine
(archived July 15, 2004), American Library Association.
• DeMott, Robert and Steinbeck, Elaine A., eds. John
Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath and Other Writings
1936–1941 (Library of America, 1996) ISBN 9781-883011-15-4
[37] 100 Most Frequently banned books in the U.S. at the
Wayback Machine (archived March 23, 2008), American
Library Association. Retrieved 2007.
• DeMott, Robert, ed. John Steinbeck, Novels 1942–
1952 (Library of America, 2002) ISBN 978-1931082-07-5
[35] Steinbecks work banned in Mississippi 2003, American
Library Association. Retrieved 2007.
11
• DeMott, Robert and Railsback, Brian, eds. John
Steinbeck, Travels With Charlie and later novels,
1947–1962 (Library of America, 2007) ISBN 9781-59853-004-9
• Benson, Jackson J. (ed.) The Short Novels Of John
Steinbeck: Critical Essays with a Checklist to Steinbeck Criticism. Durham: Duke UP, 1990 ISBN 08223-0994-7.
• Davis, Robert C. The Grapes of Wrath: A Collection
of Critical Essays. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: PrenticeHall, 1982. PS3537 .T3234 G734
• French, Warren. John Steinbeck’s Fiction Revisited.
NY: Twayne, 1994 ISBN 0-8057-4017-1.
• Hughes, R. S. John Steinbeck: A Study of the Short
Fiction. R.S. Hughes. Boston : Twayne, 1989.
ISBN 0-8057-8302-4.
• Meyer, Michael J. The Hayashi Steinbeck Bibliography, 1982–1996. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow, 1998
ISBN 0-8108-3482-0.
• Benson, Jackson J. Looking for Steinbeck’s Ghost.
Reno: U of Nevada P, 2002 ISBN 0-87417-497-X.
• Ditsky, John. John Steinbeck and the Critics.
Rochester, NY: Camden House, 2000 ISBN 157113-210-4.
• Heavilin, Barbara A. John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of
Wrath: A Reference Guide. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 2002 ISBN 0-313-31837-9.
• Li, Luchen. ed. John Steinbeck: A Documentary
Volume. Detroit: Gale, 2005 ISBN 0-7876-8127X.
• Steinbeck, John Steinbeck IV and Nancy (2001).
The Other Side of Eden: Life with John Steinbeck.
Prometheus Books. ISBN 1-57392-858-5
• Tamm, Eric Enno (2005). Beyond the Outer Shores:
The Untold Odyssey of Ed Ricketts, the Pioneering
Ecologist who Inspired John Steinbeck and Joseph
Campbell. Thunder’s Mouth Press. ISBN 978-156025-689-2.
• Bensen, Jackson J. “John Steinbeck, Writer” Penguin Putnam Inc., second edition, New York, 1990,
0-14-01.4417X,
12
External links
• National Steinbeck Center in Salinas, CA
• at Ball State University Archives and Special Collections
• The Martha Heasley Cox Center for Steinbeck Studies at the San José State University
• searchable database of secondary Steinbeck materials
• Nathaniel Benchley (Fall 1969). “John Steinbeck,
The Art of Fiction No. 45”. The Paris Review.
• George Plimpton and Frank Crowther (Fall 1975).
“John Steinbeck, The Art of Fiction No. 45 (Continued)". The Paris Review.
• John Steinbeck at C-SPAN's American Writers: A
Journey Through History
• FBI file on John Steinbeck
• Works by or about John Steinbeck in libraries
(WorldCat catalog)
• Nobel Laureate page
• John Steinbeck Collection, 1902–1979 (call number
M0263; 8.50 linear ft.) and Wells Fargo John Steinbeck Collection, 1870–1981 (call number M1063;
5 linear ft.) are housed in the Department of Special Collections and University Archives at Stanford
University Libraries
• The Steinbeck Quarterly journal, a full-text searchable journal published from 1968–1993 by the John
Steinbeck Society of America that focuses on Steinbeck criticism and scholarship
• John Steinbeck at Library of Congress Authorities,
with 359 catalog records
12
13
13
13.1
TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES
Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses
Text
• John Steinbeck Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John%20Steinbeck?oldid=650654080 Contributors: Kpjas, NathanBeach, Mav, Espen, The Anome, Koyaanis Qatsi, Danny, Shsilver, Olivier, Frecklefoot, Edward, D, Ixfd64, Delirium, Skysmith, Paul A, Goatasaur, Mdebets, Ahoerstemeier, DavidWBrooks, Ronz, Kingturtle, Cherkash, John K, Mxn, Raven in Orbit, Jengod, Charles Matthews, Dino, RickK,
Fuzheado, Buridan, ElmoHoo, Bloodshedder, Dpbsmith, Pollinator, Phil Boswell, AlexPlank, Robbot, Dale Arnett, Robzero33, Chrism,
Fredrik, Nurg, Amgine, Sverdrup, Pmineault, Academic Challenger, Meelar, JB82, LGagnon, Rasmus Faber, Sunray, Rebrane, Hadal,
Wikibot, JackofOz, Borislav, HaeB, TPK, Dina, Alan Liefting, Giftlite, Graeme Bartlett, Orangemike, Everyking, Elinnea, Perl, Michael
Devore, Henry Flower, Jdavidb, Leonard G., FrYGuY, Ezhiki, Slyguy, Solipsist, Jackol, Bobblewik, Tagishsimon, Meddlin' Pedant, Gyrofrog, Wmahan, Utcursch, Alexf, Dvavasour, SarekOfVulcan, SURIV, Antandrus, OverlordQ, JoJan, Watcher, PDH, Neutrality, Jcw69,
Ukexpat, Jewbacca, Klemen Kocjancic, Nogwa, Squash, TheObtuseAngleOfDoom, Acsenray, RevRagnarok, Guppyfinsoup, Mike Rosoft,
D6, Simonides, Freakofnurture, Discospinster, Rich Farmbrough, Atchom, Xezbeth, JPX7, Bender235, ESkog, Kbh3rd, Kaisershatner,
JoeSmack, Kaszeta, Maclean25, LordHarris, Zscout370, El C, Chairboy, Tom, RoyBoy, Leif, Gershwinrb, Noren, Bobo192, NetBot,
Whosyourjudas, Hurricane111, Smalljim, Viriditas, Clarkbhm, Giraffedata, SpeedyGonsales, Rockhopper10r, Rajah, Brookswilliams,
Troels Nybo, Pschemp, DCEdwards1966, Sam Korn, Nsaa, Officiallyover, Googie man, Jumbuck, Storm Rider, Alansohn, Enirac Sum,
Rray, Civvi, Slof, Improv, Riana, Yamla, Calton, Viridian, Fritzpoll, Trjumpet, Wanderingstan, Spangineer, Idont Havaname, Snowolf,
AnthonyWS, Wtmitchell, Irdepesca572, Yuckfoo, RainbowOfLight, DrGaellon, Dave.Dunford, Versageek, Netkinetic, Bookandcoffee,
Dan100, Tm1000, Dismas, Feezo, Gmaxwell, Angr, OwenX, Camw, Eyesbomb, Deeahbz, ^demon, WadeSimMiser, Matijap, MONGO,
Guardian, KaurJmeb, Bkwillwm, Schzmo, GregorB, Snagari, OCNative, SDC, Sam Coutu-Oughton, Prashanthns, Gimboid13, Liface, Palica, Dysepsion, Rtcpenguin, Miken32, Kesla, Jwoodger, Graham87, Magister Mathematicae, Rachel1, BD2412, Kbdank71, FreplySpang,
RxS, Jclemens, JFPerry, Noirish, Rjwilmsi, Mayumashu, Joe Decker, Nightscream, Jweiss11, Vary, Avia, Hiberniantears, Kalimac, Yamamoto Ichiro, FayssalF, Falphin, Titoxd, Leisaie, FlaBot, Ian Pitchford, RobertG, Ground Zero, Oliver Chettle, CalJW, Greg321, Crazycomputers, RMc, Nivix, RexNL, Gurch, President Rhapsody, TeaDrinker, Terrx, Alphachimp, Alfadog, Newmhost, Ahunt, King of Hearts,
Fogelmatrix, Chobot, Bgwhite, Cactus.man, Gwernol, Flcelloguy, The Rambling Man, YurikBot, Borgx, Hawaiian717, RattusMaximus,
Unravel, Split, Jeffpw, Kinneyboy90, Daverocks, RussBot, Jumbo Snails, Cougarwalk, SpuriousQ, Stephenb, Tenebrae, RandallJones,
Ihope127, Member, Philopedia, Royalbroil, Shanel, NawlinWiki, Swollib, Zhaladshar, Wiki alf, Magicmonster, Veledan, Jaxl, Welsh,
UDScott, Valhallia, Lepidoptera, Irishguy, Nick, Vizjim, Anetode, Nephron, Dppowell, Coderzombie, Jpbowen, Larry laptop, Vancouveriensis, Raven4x4x, Moe Epsilon, Tony1, Bucketsofg, Aaron Schulz, JJBunks, DeadEyeArrow, PS2pcGAMER, Bota47, Craigkbryant,
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MartinBot, Stickman drew, Gasheadsteve, Sagabot, Arjun01, Poeloq, Bissinger, Jonathan Hall, TheEgyptian, R'n'B, CommonsDelinker,
AlexiusHoratius, Johnpacklambert, Fconaway, PrestonH, WelshMatt, J.delanoy, Ldrama queenl, Cherri080, GeneralHooHa, Bogey97,
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SoCalSuperEagle, Scewing, Runtman 92, GrahamHardy, CardinalDan, Mlread, Signalhead, Malik Shabazz, Morenooso, Thedjatclubrock,
ABF, Carter, Jeff G., Indubitably, Rutherfordjigsaw, CART fan, Aparhizi, Philip Trueman, Rossen3, TXiKiBoT, Oshwah, Gbno1fan,
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13.2
Images
13
inh, Atubeileh, NHRHS2010, Runewiki777, Seaalm, AHMartin, Theoneintraining, Cosprings, D-star22, SieBot, Coffee, Babycondor, Dlfreem, Tiddly Tom, Nihil novi, Scarian, Sophos II, BotMultichill, Jauerback, Slimdaphenom, YourEyesOnly, Dawn Bard, Caltas, Matthew
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Blohm, JSpung, Hpmolly, Prestonmag, E.rossiter, Ch10023, Oxymoron83, Bob221634, GaryColemanFan, Steven Zhang, Pinkbluesodapop, Techman224, Hobartimus, BenoniBot, Fratrep, Johnhenrikrogers, Kudret abi, Masta712345, StaticGull, Hamiltondaniel, Bison123,
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XLinkBot, Jbradley2008, ChyranandChloe, Imagine Reason, Gblob331, UESPArules, Skarebo, WikHead, WernerElizabeth, SilvonenBot,
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Chamal N, Glane23, Neonorange, Bahah-yo, FCSundae, Favonian, ChenzwBot, AtheWeatherman, LinkFA-Bot, Norman21, William
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Shearonink, Aratiti, Mz7, Bakerboy448, ZéroBot, Shuipzv3, SteveO1951, Alpha Quadrant, AvicAWB, Unused000705, Access Denied,
Wayne Slam, Rcsprinter123, Gbethu, Accotink2, Donner60, Chewings72, Carmichael, 16bitz, Ooudestomp, LikeLakers2, DASHBotAV, Mjbmrbot, IssAcSandoval, Petrb, Reshgaluta, ClueBot NG, Cwmhiraeth, MelbourneStar, Satellizer, SusikMkr, Tophthemetalbender,
Kimboslice305, Widr, Pluma, Helpful Pixie Bot, Lowercase sigmabot, BG19bot, MusikAnimal, BizarreLoveTriangle, Gorthian, TClapton,
Joydeep, Molly-cules27, Gary *meow*, Sorayanwayne, MrBill3, Zaqqq111, LFevas, Glacialfox, Bakerboy454, Skylar64, TheGeniusAnalyzer, Rjeng2000, Jackisback12321, Presterct, Dylancraig, JanusChrist, Haymouse, Ninmacer20, ChrisGualtieri, JYBot, ConCass, Dexbot,
Bjorklund21, 331dot, Makecat-bot, Lugia2453, VIAFbot, Blue63duck, Epicgenius, Eyesnore, Inglok, Information-01152001, Why not
WikiBob, Patbdwll, Ashbob999, Maxyman102, Mistert321, GDB2000, BethNaught, KellerBrady, Yourmomiscool69, Jstapes617, Biblioworm, Keetleyxxx, NQ, Rkrugg, 13lupo13, TranquilHope, Efiuewhfiewiuf, Roisinkellyeah, Dickjameson, Benbiscuits, Mrs Bonslie,
Lolgetrekt, Michaelscis, 203baller, Swaqgoats, Mattie981609, AdamFarquhar, Bigdick287 and Anonymous: 1924
13.2
Images
• File:Book_collection.jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3f/Book_collection.jpg License: CC BY-SA 3.0
Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
• File:Books-aj.svg_aj_ashton_01.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4b/Books-aj.svg_aj_ashton_01.svg
License: CC0 Contributors: http://www.openclipart.org/cgi-bin/navigate/education/books (note: the link no longer works since reorganization of the OpenClipArt website). Original artist: Original author: AJ Ashton (on OpenClipArt). Code fixed by verdy_p for XML
conformance, and MediaWiki compatibility, using a stricter subset of SVG without the extensions of SVG editors, also cleaned up many
unnecessary CSS attributes, or factorized them for faster performance and smaller size. All the variants linked below are based on this
image.
• File:Commons-logo.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg License: ? Contributors: ? Original
artist: ?
• File:JohnSteinbeck.JPG Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c9/JohnSteinbeck.JPG License: Public domain
Contributors: LBJ Library and Museum Original artist: White House photographer
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• File:NationalSteinbeckCentre.jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0b/NationalSteinbeckCentre.jpg License: CC-BY-SA-3.0 Contributors: Transfered from en.wikipedia Transfer was stated to be made by User:Bu.Kroe.. Original artist:
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• File:Nobel_Prize.png Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/ed/Nobel_Prize.png License: ? Contributors:
Derivative of File:NobelPrize.JPG Original artist:
Photograph: JonathunderMedal: Erik Lindberg (1873-1966)
• File:Nuvola_apps_bookcase.svg
Source:
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License: LGPL Contributors: The source code of this SVG is <a data-x-rel='nofollow' class='external text' href='http:
//validator.w3.org/check?uri=http%3A%2F%2Fcommons.wikimedia.org%2Fwiki%2FSpecial%3AFilepath%2FNuvola_apps_
bookcase.svg,<span>,&,</span>,ss=1#source'>valid</a>. Original artist: Peter Kemp
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TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES
• File:Office-book.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a8/Office-book.svg License: Public domain Contributors: This and myself. Original artist: Chris Down/Tango project
• File:SteinbeckGrave.jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/e4/SteinbeckGrave.jpg License: CC-BY-SA-3.0 Contributors:
I created this work entirely by myself.
Original artist:
Jewbacca (talk)
• File:SteinbeckHouse.jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b6/SteinbeckHouse.jpg License: CC-BY-SA-3.0
Contributors: Transferred from en.wikipedia Original artist: Original uploader was Googie man at en.wikipedia
• File:TravelswithCharlieVehicle.jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cc/TravelswithCharlieVehicle.jpg License: CC-BY-SA-3.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: LordHarris at English Wikipedia
• File:Video-x-generic.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/e7/Video-x-generic.svg License: Public domain Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
• File:Wikibooks-logo.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/Wikibooks-logo.svg License: CC BY-SA 3.0
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Contributors: Rei-artur Original artist: Nicholas Moreau
13.3
Content license
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