1. February 27, 1902 to December 20, 1968

2.  February 27, 1902  German and Irish Ancestry  Father: John Steinbeck, Sr. ◦ County Treasurer  Mother: Olive Hamilton Steinbeck ◦ Former school teacher ◦ Influenced Steinbeck’s love of literature

3.  As a child, he worked as a hired hand on local ranches  Graduated from Salinas High School in 1919  Attended Stanford University as an English Major ◦ Did not attend regularly ◦ Worked various jobs while in school ◦ Did not graduate  Left California in 1925 to pursue writing career in New York ◦ Unable to get published ◦ Returned to California

4.  Each novel received little attention and was not widely accepted in the literary world ◦ Cup of Gold was published in 1929 ◦ The Pastures of Heaven ◦ To a God Unknown

5.  Married Carol Henning in 1930  Wrote Tortilla Flat in 1935 ◦ Based on his observations ◦ Received the California Commonwealth Club's Gold Medal for best novel by a California author  Wrote Grapes of Wrath in 1939 ◦ Based on observations and research of human condition ◦ Won Pulitzer Prize

6.  War correspondent for the New York Herald Tribune  Some of his reports were later collected and made into Once There Was a War

7.  Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962  “...for his realistic as well as imaginative writings, distinguished by a sympathetic humor and a keen social perception.” ◦ Source: www.steinbeck.org/bio.htmlwww.steinbeck.org/bio.html

8.  Avoided publicity  Died December 20, 1968 in New York City  Survived by his third wife, Elaine (Scott) Steinbeck and one son, Thomas  His ashes were placed in the Garden of Memories Cemetery in Salinas. ◦ Source: www.steinbeck.org/bio.htmlwww.steinbeck.org/bio.html

9.  Set in the farm country of California’s Salinas Valley  Written in the days following the Great Depression  Characters are homeless migrant workers ◦ Live off the land  Story of real people told in a fictional way ◦ Struggles of all people  Filled with love and pain

10.  Lennie is mentally retarded  George takes care of Lennie and protects him  They travel together  As migrant workers, they move from place to place where ever there is work  Just trying to survive

11.  A place to call home  Money  Family  Land