Childhood --  John Steinbeck was born on February 27, 1902 in Salinas , CA.  His father was John Earnest Steinbeck,1863-1935, County Treasurer.  His mother was Olive Hamilton Steinbeck,1867-1934, Teacher.  His sisters were Elizabeth Steinbeck Ainsworth, May 25,1894 - Oct. 20, 1992.

Early Adulthood --  He worked his way through college at Stanford University but never graduated.  In 1925 he went to New York, where he tried for a few years to establish himself as a free-lance writer, but he failed and returned to California.  Between 1920 and 1926, he studied marine biology at Stanford University, but did not take a degree - he always planned to be a writer.

Adulthood --  Several of his early poems and short stories appeared in university publications. After spending a short time as a laborer and reporter in New York City for the American, Steinbeck returned to California. While writing, Steinbeck took odd jobs. He was apprenticehood-carrier, apprentice painter, caretaker of an estate, surveyor, and fruit picker. During a period, when he was as a watchman of a house in the High Sierra, Steinbeck wrote his first book, CUP OF GOLD (1929). It failed to earn back the $250 the publisher had given him in an advance.  In Pacific Grove in the early 1930s, Steinbeck met Edward Ricketts. He was a marine biologist, whose views on the interdependence of all life deeply influenced Steinbeck's thinking. THE SEA OF CORTEZ (1941) resulted from an expedition in the Gulf of California he made with Ricketts.  Steinbeck's first three novels went unnoticed, but in 1935 appeared his humorous tale of pleasure loving Mexican Americans, TORTILLA FLAT, which brought him wider recognition. However, the theme of the book - the story of King Arthur and the forming of the Round Table - remained well hidden from the critics. Steinbeck's financial situation improved significantly - he had earned $35 a week for a long time, but now he was paid thousands of dollars for the film rights to Tortilla Flat.

Impact --  This autobiography/biography was written at the time of the award and later published in the book series Les Prix Nobel/Nobel Lectures. The information is sometimes updated with an addendum submitted by the Laureate. To cite this document, always state the source as shown above.John Steinbeck died on December 20, 1968.  John Steinbeck had won many awards a few awards are.

      1936 - Commonwealth Club of California Gold Medal for Best Novel by a Californian (In Dubious Battle)

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