Life of John Steinbeck: A Biography

John Steinbeck Biography: Early Life

John Ernst Steinbeck was born on the 27th of February, 1902 in Salinas, California. His father, John Steinbeck Sr. worked as the Monterey County Treasurer and his mother Olivia used to work as a schoolteacher. She encouraged her son’s love for reading and writing.

During the school summer holidays, Steinbeck used to work as a hired hand on the nearby ranches. He attended the Stanford University till 1925. He left the university without graduating so as to pursue his dream to become a writer.

Facts About John Steinbeck: Writing Career

John Steinbeck’s first novel was titled ‘Cup of Gold’ and was published in 1929. In 1935 he published ‘Tortilla Flat’ which received critical acclaim and won the California Commonwealth Club’s Gold Medal. In 1942 his book titled ‘Great Depression’ which depicted the adventures of young men in Monterey during the great depression was made into a movie starring Spencer Tracy.

John Steinbeck had found his ‘writer’s voice’ writing fiction set in the area known as the California Dust Bowl and in the time of the great depression.

In 1937 he wrote ‘Of Mice And Men’, a novella based on the dreams of two migrant workers who were working to save money to buy their own ranch. The novella was centered on the themes of loneliness, racism and the struggle for independence. this movie was made into a stage production. Steinbeck however, refused to attend the play because he claimed that the play as it existed in his head was perfect, and anything else would be a disappointment. This book was also made into major movies, three different times: 1939, 1982 and in 1992.

In 1939, he published ‘The Grapes of Wrath’ where he describes the perils of a family of sharecroppers who are driven from their land due to the dust storms in the California Dust Bowl. The book is set in the time of the great depression. This book also was translated into a major movie production in 1940. In 1940, this book received the prestigious Pulitzer Prize.

‘The Grapes of Wrath’ attracted its share of controversy, however. It showed the ugly side of capitalism and the re-interpretation of the events of the Dust Bowl migrations led to people claiming that the book misrepresented facts about the area. The book was even banned from public schools and libraries till 1941.

In 1940, Steinbeck and his friend Ed Ricketts voyaged in the Gulf of California which is also known as the Sea of Cortez. A narrative of this account was published by Steinbeck in ‘The Log from the Sea of Cortez’. However, this book came out at the same time as the bombing of Pearl Harbor and thus went largely unnoticed.

Steinbeck wrote a novel titled ‘The Moon Is Down’ also became a major film and earned him the Haakon VII Medal of Freedom for his literary contributions to the Norwegian resistance movement.

During the World War II, Steinbeck also worked as a war correspondent for the New York Herald Tribune. The collected writings of Steinbeck during these days were published in ‘Once There Was a War’ in 1958.

Meanwhile, in 1944, Steinbeck also wrote the script for Alfred Hitchcock’s film ‘Lifeboat’ and then for another film titled ‘A Medal For Benny’ in 1945.

In 1947 he wrote ‘The Pearl’ which also became a major motion film. He also wrote a film script based on the life of Emiliano Zapata, titled ‘Viva Zapata!’ which was also made into a major film.

A humorous account of Steinbeck’s travels to Russia with the renowned photographer Robert Capa was published in 1948 with the title ‘A Russian Journal’.

In 1952, following the divorce of his second wife, Gwyndolyn Conger, and the tragic demise of his best friend Ed Ricketts, he wrote ‘East of Eden’. The movie production of this book was James Dean’s film debut.

In 1960, he wrote ‘Travels With Charley: In Search Of America’ which detailed his coast to coast road trip across America in a modified camper truck with his poodle Charley. In the book he also described how he missed his lost youth and the intolerance of America at several levels.

In 1961, he wrote ‘The Winter of Discontent’ which described the moral decay within the American culture. This novel was not quite popular with the critics.

In 1962, he won the Nobel Prize for Literature for his "realistic and imaginative writing, combining as it does sympathetic humor and keen social perception".

In 1964 he won the United States Medal for Freedom at the hands of President Johnson.

In 1967 he went to Vietnam for the Newsday Magazine to report on the Vietnam War.

Private Life of John Steinbeck

In 1943 Steinbeck divorced his wife Carol Henning and married Gwyndolyn Conger. They had two sons: Thomas Myles and John Steinbeck IV. They divorced in 1948. In 1950, he married Elaine Scott. They remained married till Steinbeck’s death.

John Steinbeck died on the 20th of December, 1968 in Manhattan, New York, of heart failure. In keeping with his wishes, he was cremated and the urn containing his ashes was buried.