John Steinbeck Biography
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John Ernst Steinbeck III (February 27, 1902
– December 20, 1968) was one of the most famous American writers of the
20th century. A winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962, he is
most well-known for his novella Of Mice and Men (1937) and his Pulitzer
Prize-winning novel The Grapes of Wrath (1939), both of which examine
the lives of the working class during the Great Depression.
Steinbeck wrote in the naturalist/realist
style, often about poor, working-class people, and his body of work
reflects his wide range of interests, including marine biology, jazz,
politics, philosophy, history, and myth.
Seventeen of his works, including Cannery
Row (1945) and The Pearl (1947), went on to become Hollywood films, and
Steinbeck himself achieved success as a Hollywood writer, garnering an
Academy Award nomination for Best Writing for Alfred Hitchcock's
Lifeboat, in 1945. In recognition of Steinbeck's work with marine
biologist Ed Ricketts, a sea slug species, Eubranchus steinbecki, was
named after him in 1987.
****
Biography
Early life and work
Steinbeck was born to German-American John
and Irish-American Olive Steinbeck in Salinas, California. He had three
sisters: two older and one younger. Steinbeck's father worked in county
government, and Steinbeck's mother was a teacher.
Steinbeck enrolled in Stanford University
in 1919 and attended until 1925, but dropped out and moved to New York
City, where he labored at various jobs, including as a construction
worker while developing his skills as a freelance writer. He was unable
to find a publisher, and returned to California.
Steinbeck's first novel, published in 1929,
was the unsuccessful mythological Cup of Gold. He married Carol Henning
in 1930 and while he continued to write, he also cared for his ailing
parents—his mother died in 1934, and his father in 1935. Steinbeck
achieved his first critical success with the novel Tortilla Flat, which
won the California Commonwealth Club's Gold Medal. The story of the
adventures of young men in Monterey during the Great Depression was made
into a film of the same name in 1942, starring Spencer Tracy, Hedy
Lamarr, and John Garfield.
Political views increasingly influenced
Steinbeck's writing. Carol Henning was a Marxist who took him to radical
political meetings in San Francisco and the couple visited the Soviet
Union in 1937, a common voyage of American liberal intellectuals hoping
to view the successes of the world's foremost communist power. She
registered as a member of the United States Communist Party, reportedly
over Steinbeck's objections.
Marriages and children
Steinback separated with Henning in 1941
and moved to New York with Gwyndolyn Conger. His divorce from Henning
was finalized in 1942. In 1943 Steinbeck married Conger, and the couple
had two sons: Thomas "Thom" Steinbeck who was born August 2, 1944, and
John Steinbeck IV who was born June 12, 1946. Conger and Steinbeck
divorced in 1948.
John Steinbeck IV was a journalist who
received an Emmy Award for his reporting during the Vietnam War, was
also heavily involved in drug trafficking and the consumption of
narcotics, and was once arrested and charged with "maintaining a public
nuisance" after having been found with 20 pounds (9 kg) of cannabis in
his apartment. He died February 7, 1991 after complications resulting
from back surgery.
Thom Steinbeck is a fiction writer who
lives in Big Sur and who has published a collection of stories, Down to
a Soundless Sea (2003, ISBN 0345455770).
Actress Ava Gardner introduced Steinbeck to
Elaine Anderson Scott at a dinner party, and John married Elaine in
December of 1950 within a week after her divorce from actor Zachary
Scott became final. Elaine survived John.
Critical success
Back in California, Steinbeck found his
stride in writing "California novels" and Dust Bowl fiction, set among
common people in the Great Depression. His socially-conscious novels
about the struggles of rural workers achieved major critical success. Of
Mice and Men, his novella about the dreams of a pair of migrant laborers
working the California soil, was critically acclaimed, and was rapidly
adapted into a 1939 Hollywood film, starring Lon Chaney Jr. as "Lennie"
and Burgess Meredith as "George." Steinbeck followed this wave of
success with The Grapes of Wrath, (1939), based on newspaper articles he
had written in San Francisco, and considered by many to be his finest
work. The novel won the Pulitzer Prize for the Novel in 1940 even as it
was made into a famous film version starring Henry Fonda and directed by
John Ford.
The success of The Grapes of Wrath,
however, was not free of controversy, as Steinbeck's liberal political
views, portrayal of the ugly side of capitalism, and mythical
reinterpretation of the historical events of the Dust Bowl migrations
led to backlash against the author, especially close to home. Of the
controversy, Steinbeck himself wrote, "The vilification of me out here
from the large landowners and bankers is pretty bad. The latest is a
rumor started by them that the Okies hate me and have threatened to kill
me for lying about them. I'm frightened at the rolling might of this
damned thing, It is completely out of hand ; I mean a kind of hysteria
about the book is growing that is not healthy."
1940s–1960s
In 1940, Steinbeck's interest in marine
biology and his friendship with Ed Ricketts led him to voyage in the
Gulf of California, also known as the "Sea of Cortez," where they
collected biological specimens. Their account of this trip was later
published as The Log from the Sea of Cortez, and describes the daily
experiences of the trip as well as considering philosophical questions
related to ecosystems and biology.
During the Second World War, Steinbeck
served as a war correspondent for the New York Herald Tribune.
He continued to work in film, writing
Alfred Hitchcock's Lifeboat (1944), and the film A Medal for Benny
(1945), about paisanos from Tortilla Flat going to war.
His novel The Moon is Down (1942), about
the Socrates-inspired spirit of resistance in a Nazi-occupied village in
northern Europe, was made into a film almost immediately. It is presumed
that the country in question was Norway, and in 1945 Steinbeck received
the Haakon VII Medal of freedom for his literary contributions to the
Norwegian resistance movement.
After the war, he wrote The Pearl (1947),
already knowing it would be filmed, and traveled to Mexico for the
filming; on this trip he would be inspired by the story of Emiliano
Zapata, and wrote a film script that was directed by Elia Kazan and
starred Marlon Brando and Anthony Quinn.
In 1948 Steinbeck again toured the Soviet
Union, together with reknown photographer Robert Capa. In the same year
he was also elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
Following the success of Viva Zapata!,
Steinbeck collaborated with Kazan on East of Eden, James Dean's film
debut.
Steinbeck was a friend to Presidents John
F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson.
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.” In his acceptance
speech, he said,
"the writer is delegated to declare and to
celebrate man's proven capacity for greatness of heart and spirit – for
gallantry in defeat, for courage, compassion and love. In the endless
war against weakness and despair, these are the bright rally flags of
hope and of emulation. I hold that a writer who does not passionately
believe in the perfectibility of man has no dedication nor any
membership in literature."
In 1964, Steinbeck was awarded the United
States Medal of Freedom by President Johnson.
Legacy
The Salinas, California area, including the
Salinas Valley, Monterey, and parts of the nearby San Joaquin Valley,
acted as a setting for many of his stories. Because of his feeling for
local color, the area is now sometimes called "Steinbeck Country".
The day after Steinbeck's death in New York
City, reviewer Charles Poore wrote in the New York Times: "John
Steinbeck's first great book was his last great book. But Good Lord,
what a book that was and is: The Grapes of Wrath." Poore noted a "preachiness"
in Steinbeck's 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." Poore concluded: "His place in [U. S.] literature is
secure. And it lives on in the works of innumerable writers who learned
from him how to present the forgotten man unforgettably."
Political views
Steinbeck's literary background brought him
into close collaboration with leftist authors, journalists, and labor
union figures, who may have influenced his writing. Steinbeck was
mentored by radical writers Lincoln Steffens and his wife Ella Winter,
and through Francis Whitaker, a member of the United States Communist
Party’s John Reed Club for writers, Steinbeck met with strike organizers
from the Cannery and Agricultural Workers' Industrial Union.
In 1935 Steinbeck joined the League of
American Writers, a Communist organization intended to foster
ideological support in the literary community.
However, while definitely sympathetic to
the political left, Steinbeck's politics were considerably more
ambivalent than those of some of his admirers. A fierce individualist,
he was never fully convinced with socialism, once stating "socialism is
just another form of religion, and thus delusional."
Although he was never investigated by the
Federal Bureau of Investigation, the FBI did collect information about
Steinbeck due to his political leanings, and he was screened by United
States Army Intelligence during World War II to determine his
suitability for an officer's commission — they found him ideologically
unqualified. Steinbeck wrote to the Attorney General of the United
States, Francis Biddle, in 1942, stating, "Do you suppose you could ask
Edgar's boys to stop stepping on my heels? They think I am an enemy
alien. It is getting tiresome."
In later years, he would be criticized from
the left by those who accused him insufficient ideological commitment to
Socialism. In 1948 a women's socialist group in Rome, Italy condemned
Steinbeck for converting to "the camp of war and anti-Marxism," and in
1955 an article in the Daily Worker criticized Steinbeck's portrayal of
the American Left.
****
Works
East of Eden
East of Eden is Steinbeck's most ambitious
work, in which he turns his attention from social injustice to human
psychology, in a Salinas Valley saga loosely patterned on the Garden of
Eden story. The book was written and published in 1952. The main
characters, Samuel and Liza Hamilton, are immigrants from Ireland, who
raised there nine children on a rough unfertile hillside.
The Grapes of Wrath
The Grapes of Wrath was written in 1939 and
won the Pulitzer Prize in 1940. The book 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. The book was made into a
movie into a film in 1940 starring Henry Fonda and directed by John
Ford.
Of Mice and Men
Of Mice and Men is a tragedy that was
written in the form of a novella in 1937. The story is about two migrant
farm workers trying to work up enough money to buy their own farm.
The Pearl
The Pearl is another novella tells the
story about a poor diver named Kino who finds the largest pearl anyone
has ever seen. He wishes to use the money to pay for a doctor to treat
his son's scorpion sting. His dream for a better life for his family
leads to greed, obsession and ultimately, inevitable tragedy.
Full bibliography
-
Cup of Gold: A Life of Sir Henry
Morgan, Buccaneer, With Occasional Reference to History 1929
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The Pastures of Heaven 1932
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The Red Pony 1933
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To a God Unknown 1933
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Tortilla Flat 1935
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In Dubious Battle 1936 The title is a
reference to John Milton's "Paradise Lost."
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The Harvest Gypsies: On the Road to the
Grapes of Wrath [newspaper articles, 1936]
-
Of Mice and Men 1937 The title is a
reference to the Robert Burns poem "To a Mouse."
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The Long Valley 1938
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The Grapes of Wrath 1939 The title is a
reference to the American Civil War song "The Battle Hymn of the
Republic."
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Forgotten Village 1941
-
Sea of Cortez: A Leisurely Journal of
Travel and Research 1941 with Edward F. Ricketts.
-
The Moon Is Down 1942 The title is a
reference to William Shakespeare's play "Macbeth"
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Bombs Away: The Story of a Bomber Team
1942
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Cannery Row 1945
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The Pearl 1947
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The Wayward Bus 1947
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A Russian Journal 1948 with Robert Capa
as photographer
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Burning Bright: A Play in Story Form
1950
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Log from the Sea of Cortez 1951
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East of Eden 1952
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Sweet Thursday 1954
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The Short Reign of Pippin IV 1957
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Once There Was A War 1958
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The Winter of Our Discontent 1961 The
title is a reference to the William Shakespeare play "Richard the
Third".
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Travels With Charley: In Search of
America 1962 (a semi-documentary work about his late-life car trip,
with his poodle Charley, around the United States.)
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America and Americans 1966
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Journal of a Novel: The East of Eden
Letters 1969
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Viva Zapata! the Original Screenplay
1975
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The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble
Knights 1976
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Working Days: The Journals of the
Grapes of Wrath 1938–1941 1989
Film credits
-
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
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1941 – The Forgotten Village – directed
by Herbert Kline, narrated by Burgess Meredith
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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
-
1955 – East of Eden – directed by Elia
Kazan, featuring James Dean, Julie Harris, Jo Van Fleet, and Raymond
Massey
-
1956 – The Wayward Bus – directed by
Victor Vicas, featuring Rick Jason, Jayne Mansfield, and Joan
Collins
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1961 – Flight – featuring Efrain
Ramírez and Arnelia Cortez
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1962 – Ikimize bir dünya (Of Mice and
Men, Turkey)
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1972 – Topoli (Of Mice and Men, Iran)
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1982 – Cannery Row – directed by David
S. Ward, featuring Nick Nolte and Debra Winger
Trivia
To symbolize himself, Steinbeck used the
stamp of a Pigasus, a flying pig, and the phrase Ad Astra Per Alia Porci
(To the stars on wings of pigs.)
In recognition of Steinbeck's work with
marine biologist Ed Ricketts, a sea slug species, Eubranchus steinbecki,
was named after him in 1987.
Bruce Springsteen's song and album The
ghost of Tom Joad are written with reference to the character in The
Grapes of Wrath, as is Woody Guthrie's "Tom Joad."
****
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