2007 Author Selection:
John Steinbeck, 1902-1968

"In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage."
                                                        John Steinbeck

The California farm town of Salinas welcomed John Steinbeck into the world on February 27, 1902, but the welcome eventually wore out. From an early age, his schoolteacher mother imparted a love of learning and language. From his bankrupt father, Steinbeck acquired a hypersensitivity to social nuances, a profound empathy for the underprivileged, and a strong work ethic that rarely left him. After receiving his diploma from Salinas High in 1919, he alternated work as a field hand with sporadic attendance at Stanford University.

In 1940, critically and commercially successful films of both The Grapes of Wrath and the short novel Of Mice and Men came out. During World War II, The New York Herald Tribune signed him on as a war correspondent, and he filed dispatches from England and the Mediterranean.

To read more about John Steinbeck click on the link below:  http://www.neabigread.org/books/grapesofwrath/grapes04_about.php