Biography Of John Steinbeck

Candice Seah

Literature 2

Mr. Smith

September 23, 2010

Biography of John Steinbeck

John Steinbeck was a famous writer because of his novels "Of Mice and Men" and "The Grapes of Wrath". Born as John Ernst Steinbeck on February 27, 1902 in Salinas, California. He is the third of four children and only son of John Ernst, Sr. and Olive Hamilton Steinbeck. His father managed a flour mill and then served as treasurer of Monterey County. His mother taught in a one-room rural school. Steinbeck had to work to earn money. During high school, he worked on nearby ranches during the summer. He did that to earn money to support himself and his family.

During high school, he earned mostly B's and B-pluses. That wasn't a good start for him. In his senior year, he was elected as president of the class. He was also an editor of the school newspaper. In 1919, Steinbeck entered Stanford University in Palo Alto. He got only average grades and after two years, he withdrew from the university. During the following two years, he worked on a ranch located in the south of Salinas before returning to Stanford. There are sometimes that he will go to his classes and sometimes not because of illness and other reasons. He still worked when he is not at school as a clerk in Oakland and as a laborer in the beet and barley fields of Salinas. In January 1923, Steinbeck returned to Stanford, where he received A's and B's during the three years. In 1925, he left Stanford after five years of studying. Steinbeck went to New York City when he was 23; he became a reporter for "New York American".

Then came his love life and bad parts of it too. In 1930, he married Carol Henning. In 1943, he divorced with his first wife.