Steinbeck was born on February 27, 1902, and was the son of John Ernst Steinbeck and Olive Hamilton. He grew up in Salinas, California where most of his stories and novels take place. He used the surrounding Salinas Valley as an example of a serene and fruitful place in his books (DISCovering Authors 3,4). In school Steinbeck was considered to be a wonderful student by his writing teachers and they often read his essays aloud in class. When Steinbeck graduated high school in 1919 he went to Stanford University to get a degree in English since he liked writing so much. When he got there, Steinbeck ignored Stanford's set curriculum and took whatever courses interested him (Verde 102-103).

In 1925 Steinbeck gave up the idea of getting a degree and moved to New York City to be an author. At first he went to work on a construction crew for the new Madison Square Garden. He hated that s

In 1962 Steinbeck was awarded a Nobel Prize for literature. From 1963 to 1967 Steinbeck traveled more than ever. In 1968 he suffered a small stroke and then had a major heart attack in July of that year. In November he was rushed from Sag Harbor to a New York hospital until December 20 when he went into a coma and later died (Verde 112).

Kunitz, Stanley and Howard Hay, Twentieth Century Authors, The H.W. Wilson

Verde, Thomas A., Twentieth Century Writers 1900-1950, Facts On File, Inc., New York,

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