John Steinbeck
February 27, 1902 - December 20, 1968

"To start a story still scares me to death. 
I will go so far as to say that the writer who is not scared is happily unaware of the remote and tantalizing majesty of the medium."

~ His father was a farmer; his mother, a school teacher. And the one responsible for introducing John to books.

~ Growing up on a farm, Steinbeck and his sisters learned to appreciate animals and nature at an early age. 

~ Steinbeck attended Salinas High School and worked on farms and ranches during his vacations. 

~ After graduation, he attended Stanford University where several of his poems and short stories appeared in university publications. Although his major was Marine Biology, he did not earn a degree.

~ His goal was to become a professional writer. 

~ In 1925, Steinbeck took odd jobs while writing. He was a hood-carrier, a painter, a caretaker, a surveyor and a fruit-picker. When working as a watchman in the High Sierra, Steinbeck wrote his first book, Cup of Gold. It failed to earn back the $250 advance.

~ In 1930, Steinbeck married his sweetheart, Carol Henning.

~ Steinbeck's first three novels received little attention. In 1935, however, his humorous tale of pleasure-loving Mexican-Americans, Tortilla Flat, was an instant success.

~ He went from earning $35 a week to earning thousands of dollars for the film rights. 

~ When John lost his mother, he was so devastated, he couldn't write for a year.

~ Just as he began to recover from the loss, and to write again, his father died. 

~ Due to his overwhelming despair, Steinbeck found himself unable to concentrate on his writing project. After another year, he finally got back to the manuscript.

~ It became his first bestseller: Of Mice and Men.

~ For his next novel, Steinbeck traveled around California migrant camps to research their plight. He spent two years writing The Grapes of Wrath.

~ The Grapes of Wrath was later made into a film and awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1940.

~ Steinbeck's twelve-year marriage to Carol Henning ended in 1942. The following year, he married singer Gwyndolyn Conger. They had two sons. 

~ Steinbeck's biggest writing project East of Eden hit the big screen in 1955. Director Elia Kazan originally wanted Marlon Brando to play the role of Cal, but chose James Dean instead.

~ When Steinbeck met the unknown actor, he thought he was a snotty kid, but Cal "sure as hell."

~ Four years later, Steinbeck suffered a mini-stroke. Despite this setback, he continued to write.

~ In early 1960, he began work on what would be his last published novel, The Winter of Our Discontent.

~ In 1962, Steinbeck's Travels with Charley: In Search of America was published. It's a travelogue that documents the road trip he took with his French poodle Charley around the United States.

~ In that same year, he also received the Nobel Prize for Literature. Two years later, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

~ At the age of 66, Steinbeck contracted emphysema, and died a few months later. His third wife Elaine was at his side when he passed.

~ His ashes are buried at Garden of Memories Cemetery in Salinas, California.