John Steinbeck

         By Ishwarya Rajendran                       Period 1                        5/1/09

   Early Life

• Born on February 17,1902 in Salinas, California.

 • Graduated from Salinas High

School in 1919, and attended Stanford University from 1919-1925. 

 • His house he grew up in is

now a gift shop and a nice restaurant.

               Family Life

• Father was a county treasurer named John Ernst Steinbeck(1863-1935).

• Mother, Olive Hamilton Steinbeck, was a teacher, and inspired John's interest in books(1867-1934).

• John was the third son, and the only boy of his mother's.

• Had three sisters:Mary, Beth, and Ester. 

• Married three times:            Carol Henning Steinbeck Brown            Gwyndolyn Conger Steinbeck            Elaine Anderson Scott Steinbeck• John had two sons with Gwyndolyn

named Thomas Stienbeck and John Steinbeck IV.

             Accomplishments

• John Steinbeck is one of America's most popular and well known novelists.  

 • In 1929, he published his first novel,Cup of Gold, but

received very little attention from readers.  •  He is well known for his novel,The Grapes of Wrath,

in 1939, which also won a Pulitzer prize. • The Pearl and Of Mice and Men were also very

popular.   •  He explored  many different themes with different

views as a social protest writer, journalist,a naturalist, a realist, and a playwright. 

Honors and Awards1935 - Commonwealth Club of California Gold                  Medal for Best Book by a Californian                          (Tortilla Flat) 1938 - New York Drama Critics' Circle Award (Of                Mice and Men)1940 - Pulitzer Prize Fiction Award (The Grapes               of Wrath)1948 - Member American Academy of Arts and                  Letters1962 - Nobel Prize for Literature1963 - Honorary Consultant in American                              Literature to the Library of Congress1964 - United States Medal Of Freedom1966 -  Member National Arts Council   

                       His Jobs

    John Steinbeck did many odd jobs to support himself during high school and the times before he had published any of his writings. •  He worked at farms and ranches during vacation.• He was apprentice hood carrier, apprentice painter,

surveyor, a caretaker of an estate, and a fruit picker. 

•  He was a laborer in a sugar factory,in mills, and also a ranch hand. 

•  He helped in writing speeches for presidential campaign later in his life as a well known author. 

                 When He Died

• John Steinbeck died on December 28, 1968 in New York City due to heart failure. 

 • His ashes are buried in The

Garden of Memories Cemetery in Salinas, California. 

 •  The remainder of his life

after writing novels and journals, he mostly kept to himself and shunned publicity.

 

             Quotes of John Steinbeck"Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen." "Man is the only kind of varmint sets his own trap, baits it, then steps in it." "The writer must believe that what he is doing is the most important thing in the world. And he must hold to this illusion even when he knows it is not true." "Unless a reviewer has the courage to give you unqualified praise, I say ignore the bastard." "We spend our time searching for security and hate it when we get it." "A journey is a person in itself; no two are alike. And all plans, safeguards, policing, and coercion are fruitless. We find that after years of struggle that we do not take a trip; a trip takes us." "The free exploring mind of the individual human is the most vauable thing in the world."           

                   Works Cited

    "John Steinbeck." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2009. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 04 May. 2009 <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/564980/John-Steinbeck         Reuben, Paul P. "John Steinbeck (1902-1968): A Brief Literary Biography." PAL: Perspectives in American Literature- A Research and Reference Guide. URL:http://www.csustan.edu/english/reuben/pal/append/steinbeck_bio_s99.html (provide page date or date of your login).         "John Steinbeck." Wikipedia. Wikipedia, 2008. Answers.com 04 May. 2009. http://www.answers.com/topic/john-steinbeck  

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