John Steinbeck, author of Of Mice and Men (1937), was born in Salinas, California on February 27, 1902. He grew up in a middle-class family of German and Irish descent in Monterey County, California. This is where Steinbeck developed his love of the natural world and diverse cultures that show up so often in his major works. His father, John Steinbeck Sr., was the county treasurer and his mother, Olive (Hamilton) Steinbeck, was a formal school teacher. They lovingly fostered his passion for reading and writing. John Jr. attended Stanford University but never graduated. He left Stanford in 1925 and attempted to become a freelance writer in New York City, but when his endeavors failed he returned to California. Steinbeck married his first wife, Carol Henning, in 1930 and they moved to Pacific Grove, where he wrote Tortilla Flat (1935). This novel was his first popular work and the turning point of his career. Of Mice and Men (1937), a tale of shattered dreams, was considered to be Steinbeck's first large success. In 1939 he published what is considered his best work, The Grapes of Wrath, the story of Oklahoma tenant farmers who, unable to earn a living from the land, moved to California where they became migratory workers. John Steinbeck was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962 "...for his realistic as well as imaginative writings, distinguished by a sympathetic humor and a keen social perception." His last work was Travels with Charley (1962), a travelogue in which Steinbeck wrote about his impressions during a three-month tour in a truck that led him through forty American states. Other works included The Red Pony (1937), Sweet Thursday (1954), Cannery Row (1945), In Dubious Battle (1936), To a God Unknown (1933), The Sea of Cortez (1941), Cup of Gold (1929), and The Moon is Down (1942). He died in New York City on December 20, 1968, and was survived by his third wife, Elaine (Scott) Steinbeck, and their son...