John Ernst Steinbeck, Jr. was an American writer. He was born on 27th February 1902 in Salinas, California and he died on 20th December 1968.
He is widely known for the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Grapes of Wrath (1939) and East of Eden (1952) and the novella Of Mice and Men (1937). He was the author of twenty-seven books, including sixteen novels, six non-fiction books, and five collections of short stories. He received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962.
His father, John Ernst Steinbeck, served as Monterey County treasurer. His mother, Olive Hamilton was a former school teacher, and she also loved reading and writing. The family lived in a small rural town. John spent the summers working on nearby ranches and later with migrant workers. He became aware of the harsher aspects of migrant life and the darker side of human nature. He expressed his experiences in such works as Of Mice and Men.
Steinbeck studied at the university of Palo Alto, but he left without a degree in 1925. He traveled to New York City where he took odd jobs while trying to write. When he failed to have his work published, he returned to California and worked in 1928 as a tour guide and caretaker in Tahoe City. He met Carol Henning, his first wife here. They got married in 1930. Stenbeck wrote In Dubious Battle, Of Mice and Men, and The Grapes of Wrath. The allusive titles were suggested by his wife after reading the manuscripts.
In 1942, Steinbeck and Carol got divorced and later that month he married Gwyndolyn "Gwyn" Conger. With his second wife Steinbeck had his only children—Thomas ("Thom") Myles Steinbeck (born 1944) and John Steinbeck IV (1946–1991).
In 1943, Steinbeck served as a World War II war correspondent. In 1944 he got wounded, so he resigned from work and returned home. In 1948 he and Gwyn got divorced.
In 1950 he married Elaine Scott (this marriage lasted until Stenbeck's death). Soon after, he began to work on East of Eden (1952), which he considered his best work. John Steinbeck died in New York City on December 20, 1968 of heart disease.
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