{"id":82184,"date":"2025-02-27T14:17:02","date_gmt":"2025-02-27T20:17:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/?p=82184"},"modified":"2025-02-27T14:17:02","modified_gmt":"2025-02-27T20:17:02","slug":"on-this-day-in-history-john-steinbeck-is-born","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/27\/on-this-day-in-history-john-steinbeck-is-born\/","title":{"rendered":"On this Day in History: John Steinbeck is Born"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-large wp-image-82199 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Stein-817x1024.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"802\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Stein-817x1024.png 817w, https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Stein-239x300.png 239w, https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Stein-768x963.png 768w, https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Stein-1225x1536.png 1225w, https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Stein-300x376.png 300w, https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Stein-850x1066.png 850w, https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Stein.png 1563w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/h1>\n<h1 style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/steinbeck.stanford.edu\/writer\">John Steinbeck<\/a><\/h1>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>I read a lot of Steinbeck early on in my youth and I always appreciated his matter of fact, minimalist style.<\/h2>\n<h2>After reading <em>Grapes of Wrath<\/em> and then watching the 1940 film adaptation directed by John Ford, I was hooked.<\/h2>\n<h2><em><strong>Published Works:<\/strong><\/em><\/h2>\n<ul id=\"mntl-sc-block_12-0\" class=\"comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-html\">\n<li>\n<h3><strong>1927: &#8220;Cup of Gold&#8221;<\/strong>\u2014A historical fiction based loosely on the life of the 17th-century pirate Henry Morgan.<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h3><strong>1932: &#8220;The Pastures of Heaven&#8221;<\/strong>\u2014Twelve interconnected stories about the people in a valley in Monterrey, California, a place that would become central in many of his later works.<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h3><strong>1933: &#8220;To a God Unknown&#8221;<\/strong>\u2014Four brothers who move to California to work a ranch and struggle when drought takes away all they have grown.<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h3><strong>1935: &#8220;Tortilla Flat&#8221;<\/strong>\u2014A small band of Hispanic paisanos in Monterrey enjoy life in Monterrey (Steinbeck&#8217;s first big success).<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h3><strong>1936: &#8220;In Dubious Battle&#8221;<\/strong>\u2014A labor activist struggles to organize fruit workers in California.<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h3><strong>1937: &#8220;Of Mice and Men&#8221;<\/strong>\u2014Two displaced migrants\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thoughtco.com\/mind-blowing-ways-to-read-of-mice-and-men-4135411\" data-component=\"link\" data-source=\"inlineLink\" data-type=\"internalLink\" data-ordinal=\"1\">seek work in California<\/a>\u00a0during the Great Depression. The book was often a target of censorship for its\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thoughtco.com\/of-mice-and-men-quotes-740938\" data-component=\"link\" data-source=\"inlineLink\" data-type=\"internalLink\" data-ordinal=\"2\">vulgarity and offensive language<\/a>.<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h3><strong>1937: &#8220;The Red Pony Stories&#8221;<\/strong>\u2014Episodic novel appearing in magazines between 1933 and 1936, first published together in 1937, about a boy and his life on a California ranch.<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h3><strong>1938: &#8220;The Long Valley&#8221;<\/strong>\u2014A collection of 12 short stories, written over several years and set in the Salinas Valley of California (includes the first Red Pony story).<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h3><strong>1939: &#8220;The Grapes of Wrath&#8221;<\/strong>\u2014A poor migrant family from Oklahoma and their struggles to find a place in California. Steinbeck&#8217;s best-known novel and winner of the Pulitzer and other literary prizes.<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h3><strong>1941: &#8220;The Forgotten Village&#8221;<\/strong>\u2014A documentary film written by Steinbeck and narrated by Burgess Meredith, about a Mexican village grappling with modernization.<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h3><strong>1942: &#8220;The Moon Is Down&#8221;<\/strong>\u2014A story of a small coastal town in northern Europe that is overrun by an unnamed army (thought to be a fictionalization of the occupation of Norway by the Nazis in World War II).<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h3><strong>1942: &#8220;Bombs Away: The Story of a Bomber Team&#8221;<\/strong>\u2014A nonfiction account of Steinbeck&#8217;s experiences with several World War II American Army Air bomber crews.<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h3><strong>1945\u2014&#8221;Cannery Row&#8221;<\/strong>\u2014A story of a disastrous party thrown by the inhabitants of a small town in California for their friend Doc.<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h3><strong>1947: &#8220;The Wayward Bus&#8221;<\/strong>\u2014Interactions of a cross-section of people at a crossroads bus stop in California.<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h3><strong>1947: &#8220;The Pearl&#8221;<\/strong>\u2014An immense pearl brings ill effects to an oyster fisherman&#8217;s family.<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h3><strong>1948: &#8220;A Russian Journal&#8221;<\/strong>\u2014A report from Steinbeck on his travels through the Soviet Union during Joseph Stalin&#8217;s rule.<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h3><strong>1950: &#8220;Burning Bright&#8221;<\/strong>\u2014A morality story meant to be produced as a play, during which an aging man goes to great lengths to have a child.<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h3><strong>1951: &#8220;The Log from the Sea of Cortez&#8221;<\/strong>\u2014Steinbeck&#8217;s personal log of a six-week expedition in the Gulf of California he made with marine biologist Ed Ricketts. Written in 1941, published in 1951.<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h3><strong>1952: &#8220;East of Eden&#8221;<\/strong>\u2014A novel about two Salinas Valley families in the first two decades of the 20th century, based on the story of Steinbeck&#8217;s own ancestors.<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h3><strong>1954: &#8220;Sweet Thursday&#8221;<\/strong>\u2014A revisit of the people in &#8220;Cannery Row,&#8221; taking place after the main character Doc returns at the end of World War II.<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h3><strong>1957: &#8220;The Short Reign of Pippin IV: A Fabrication&#8221;<\/strong>\u2014A political satire, exploring what might happen if an ordinary fellow was selected to be the King of France.<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h3><strong>1958: &#8220;Once There Was A War&#8221;<\/strong>\u2014A collection of articles written for the\u00a0<em>New York Herald Tribune<\/em>\u00a0while Steinbeck was a foreign correspondent during World War II.<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h3><strong>1961: &#8220;The Winter of Our Discontent&#8221;<\/strong>\u2014The struggles of a Long Island man whose family has fallen from an aristocratic level to a middle-class existence. Steinbeck&#8217;s last novel.<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h3><strong>1962: &#8220;Travels with Charley: In Search of America&#8221;<\/strong>\u2014A travelogue of Steinbeck&#8217;s\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thoughtco.com\/novel-setting-maps-4107896\" data-component=\"link\" data-source=\"inlineLink\" data-type=\"internalLink\" data-ordinal=\"1\">road trip across the U.S.<\/a>\u00a0in a hand-built camper with his dog Charley.<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h3><strong>1966: &#8220;America and Americans&#8221;<\/strong>\u2014A collection of articles from Steinbeck&#8217;s career as a journalist.<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h3><strong>1969: &#8220;Journal of a Novel: The East of Eden Letters&#8221;<\/strong>\u2014A series of letters written by Steinbeck to his editor during the writing of East of Eden. Published posthumously (Steinbeck died in 1968).<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h3><strong>1975: &#8220;Viva Zapata!&#8221;<\/strong>\u2014A screenplay written by Steinbeck was used to produce this biographical film about the Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata.<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h3><strong>1976: &#8220;The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights&#8221;<\/strong>\u2014An adaptation of the legend of King Arthur, started in 1956, and unfinished at his death.<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h3><strong>1989: &#8220;Working Days: The Journals of The Grapes of Wrath&#8221;<\/strong>\u2014Edited and annotated version of Steinbeck&#8217;s personal journal written while he was working on &#8220;The Grapes of Wrath.&#8221;<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>John Steinbeck &nbsp; I read a lot of Steinbeck early on in my youth and I always appreciated his matter of fact, minimalist style. After reading Grapes of Wrath and then watching the 1940 film adaptation directed by John Ford, I was hooked. Published Works: 1927: &#8220;Cup of Gold&#8221;\u2014A historical fiction based loosely on the&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[932,1427,4634,9995],"tags":[16131,18571,3134,18570,16009,9606],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82184"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=82184"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82184\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":82200,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82184\/revisions\/82200"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82184"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82184"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82184"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}