John Steinbeck

On February 27, John Steinbeck was born in Salinas, California.� In August of 1929, Steinbeck published his first novel, Cup of Gold.� In 1937, Steinbeck published Of Mice and Men and in 1939 published The Grapes of Wrath, which was considered a literary masterpiece.� Steinbeck won the Pulitzer Prize for this work of literature.� The Grapes of Wrath was later made into a movie.� Some of his more minor works include The Moon is Down (1942), Cannery Row (1945), and The Wayward Bus. In 1947, Steinbeck wrote the novel, The Pearl.� This book was later made into a movie in 1948.� In 1962, Steinbeck was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature "...for his realistic as well as imaginative writings, distinguished by a sympathetic humor and a keen social perception."

"Literature is as old as speech. It grew out of human need for it and it has not changed except to become more needed. The skalds, the bards, the writers are not separate and exclusive. From the beginning, their functions, their duties, their responsibilities have been decreed by our species...the writer is delegated to declare and to celebrate man's proven capacity for greatness of heart and spirit - for gallantry in defeat, for courage, compassion and love. In the endless war against weakness and despair, these are the bright rally flags of hope and of emulation. I hold that a writer who does not passionately believe in the perfectibility of man has no dedication nor any membership in literature."
�� ����������������������������������������������������������� - John Steinbeck's Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech

Steinbeck died on December 20, 1968, in New York City.� He left behind a wife named Elaine Scott, and son.