TB2+John+Steinbeck 

Cole LaMacchia, Teresa Colosanti, EmmaLee Schutt John Steinbeck was born in Salinas, California on February 27th, 1902. As a child, John's family struggled to make ends meet. He had three sisters. His mother, Olive Hamilton Steinbeck, was a school teacher and his father, John Ernst Steinbeck, went from job to job but mostly worked at the feed-and-grain store that he owned. John did miscellaneous jobs on farms and continued to do this throughout college. In John's early years, he was shy, but also smart. He also enjoyed nature. Nature had a large impact on his writing. At age 14, John decided he wanted to become an author. He soon went off to college at Stanford University, but in 1925, he decided school was not for him and dropped out. He later moved to New York City, Here, he tried for a few years to get himself going as a free-lance writer, but he failed and returned to California shortly after.

During the Great Depression, he stood up for the lower classes through his writings. Some of his most famous novels, (Of Mice and Men, The Grapes of Wrath, East of Eden) were written during the tough times that were haunting America and each carefully depicted specific parts of it. In 1940, Steinbeck won a Pulitzer Prize for his most famous novel, The Grapes of Wrath.

Steinbeck married Carol Henning in 1930 and together they lived in Pacific Grove, California. He spent a lot of his time in Monterey with his friend, Ricketts, at his Cannery Row space he had, which inspired his popular 1945 novel, //Cannery Row//. However, John divorced Carol rather quickly. In 1943, Steinbeck married his second wife, Gwyndolyn Conger; with her he had two children. 1948 was an extremely bad year for Steinbeck because Gwyndolyn left him, and Ricketts died. However, finally in 1950, he found happiness in his marriage to Elaine Scott, and he lived with her in New York City.

After serving in World War II, John suffered greatly from wounds and psychological trauma. This helped him to write several short stories along with his longest novel and (according to his wife), his best novel, East of Eden. Many more of his novels were based on what he saw overseas.

In 1962 Steinbeck won the Nobel Prize for Literature. His work was a huge asset to the world while going through the depression. He received the award for his "for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humour and keen social perception" (Wikipedia).

In 1967 John was sent over to Vietnam to report on the war. He wrote about how he was scared for his own sons' safety in the war. His report had a very sympathetic portrayal of the US Army. The New York Post praised him because of what he had written and said it was very different from his past.

Steinbeck smoked his whole life and it is said that it was the reason that he had so many heart problems as he got older. John Steinbeck died on December 20, 1968.

Here are some of Steinbecks more popular works: (1929) Cup of Gold (1932) The Pastures of Heaven (1933) To A God Unknown (1935) Tortilla Flat (1936) In Dubious Battle (1937) Of Mice and Men (1939) The Grapes of Wrath (1942) Bombs Away: The Story of a Bomber Team (1942) The Moon Is Down (1945) Cannery Road (1947) The Wayward Bus (1948) A Russian Journal (1952) East of Eden (1958) Once There Was A War (1961) The Winter of Our Discontent (1962) Travels with Charley

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