John Steinbeck: A Great American Writer.
John Steinbeck was born in Salinas, California in 1902. He made his native region of Monterey Bay the setting for most of his fictional novels. Steinbeck studied marine biology at Stanford University between 1920 and 1926. Three years later, he wrote his first book entitled, Cup Of Gold. He wrote this book while working in the High Sierra as a house watchman. Over the following years, Steinbeck wrote many great novels. Among these were, Of Mice And Men, The Red Pony, and the book that he is best known for, The Grapes Of Wrath, which had an impact compared to Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe. .
Steinbeck's love life, however, was not very successful. In 1930, he married a woman named Carol Henning. In 1942, the 28-year-old Steinbeck filed for divorce. It took Steinbeck only a year to find love again, this time with singer Gwyndolyn Conger. After having two sons, Thom and John, Steinbeck divorced again in 1949. In 1950, Steinbeck decided to try marriage one last time with a woman by the name of Elaine Scott. That same year, his son, John, was hospitalized for codeine addiction at age seven. John Steinbeck IV died at age 48 from drug and alcohol complications. .
In 1961, Steinbeck wrote his last major novel called The Winter Of Our Discontent. This novel did not do very well with readers, and many critics stated that Steinbeck was exhausted. In 1962, he won the Nobel Prize for Literature, and the people still thought of him as a has-been. Steinbeck did not take his humiliation lightly. He ended up spending his time reporting on New York and California spending equal time in each. When he decided to go to Vietnam to report on the war, he was mauled by the New York post for going against his liberal past. While in New York, John Stonich died of a heart attack on December 20, 1968. .
Today, many people are still enjoying the unmatchable works of this great writer.
