1. “Literature is as old as speech. It grew out of human need for it, and it has not changed except to become more needed.” John Steinbeck, Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech, 1962

2. John Steinbeck 1902 - 1968

3. Early Life Born in Salinas, California, 1902 Parents were John Steinbeck, Sr. and Olive Steinbeck Mother, a former schoolteacher, fostered Steinbeck’s love of reading

4. Worked on California ranches during summers; impressions of California people and land Attended Stanford University 1919-1925 Studied English, then independent study Did not earn degree

5. Career Left Stanford for New York to write Unsuccessful; returned to CA after a few years

6. Held odd jobs: –journalist –laborer on construction of Madison Square Garden –fruit picker –caretaker of Lake Tahoe estate

7. Writings First three novels were unsuccessful: –Cup of Gold, 1929 –Pastures of Heaven, 1932 –To a God Unknown, 1933

8. Tortilla Flat, 1935 –first success –focuses on unemployed drifters of Monterey, CA In Dubious Battle, 1936 –deals with strikes of CA migratory workers –drew critics’ anger

9. Of Mice and Men, 1937 The Grapes of Wrath, 1939 –Pulitzer Prize winner –story of Oklahoma tenant farmers who move to California, become migrant workers

10. Other works: The Red Pony The Pearl Cannery Row East of Eden The Winter of Our Discontent

11. Nobel Prize for Literature, 1962 –highest honor a writer can earn

12. Steinbeck died in New York City, 1968