25 moments

1. Birth in Salinas

   1902-02-27 · Salinas, California, United States

   

   John Ernst Steinbeck III was born in Salinas, the agricultural California city and Salinas Valley environment that later informed much of his fiction.

2. Studies at Stanford University

   1919-01-01 · Stanford University, Stanford, California, United States

   After graduating from Salinas High School, Steinbeck began studying English literature at Stanford University near Palo Alto; he left without a degree in 1925. The source supports attendance beginning in 1919 but does not specify a month.

3. Attempted writing career in New York

   1925-01-01 · New York City, New York, United States

   After leaving Stanford, Steinbeck traveled to New York City, took odd jobs, and tried to establish himself as a writer before returning to California. The year is supported by the immediately preceding statement that he left Stanford in 1925; no more precise date is given.

4. Caretaker at Lake Tahoe

   1928-01-01 · Lake Tahoe, California and Nevada, United States

   Back in California, Steinbeck worked as a tour guide and caretaker at Lake Tahoe, where he met Carol Henning, his first wife. Lake coordinate is a representative point for the lake.

5. Marriage in Los Angeles

   1930-01-01 · Los Angeles, California, United States

   Steinbeck and Carol Henning married in Los Angeles and briefly tried to earn money by manufacturing plaster mannequins with friends.

6. Meeting Ed Ricketts in Monterey

   1930-01-01 · Monterey, California, United States

   

   Steinbeck met marine biologist Ed Ricketts in Monterey. Their friendship and Ricketts's scientific and philosophical influence became central to Steinbeck's work in the 1930s and 1940s.

7. Move to Pacific Grove

   1930-01-01 · Pacific Grove, California, United States

   

   After their Los Angeles venture failed, Steinbeck and Carol moved to a father-owned cottage in Pacific Grove on the Monterey Peninsula, where he could write with family support. The move occurred six months after the January 1930 marriage; no month is stated.

8. Investigation of San Joaquin Valley Hoovervilles

   1936-08-01 · San Joaquin Valley, California, United States

   

   Commissioned by the San Francisco News, Steinbeck personally interviewed families in impoverished Hoovervilles across the San Joaquin Valley, observations that informed The Grapes of Wrath. Coordinate is a representative point for the broad San Joaquin Valley area documented by the source.

9. Sea of Cortez collecting expedition

   1940-01-01 · Gulf of California, Mexico

   Steinbeck joined Ed Ricketts on a biological-specimen collecting expedition to the Gulf of California. Their experience became the basis of Sea of Cortez and later The Log from the Sea of Cortez. Coordinate is a representative offshore point for the broad gulf; the source does not specify a single landing site or voyage position.

10. War correspondent in the Mediterranean

    1943-01-01 · Mediterranean Sea

    As a New York Herald Tribune war correspondent during World War II, Steinbeck accompanied Douglas Fairbanks Jr.'s Beach Jumpers on commando raids against German-held Mediterranean islands. Coordinate is a representative central-Mediterranean point because the source does not identify a particular island or raid date.

11. First Soviet journey: Batumi

    1947-01-01 · Batumi, Georgian SSR, Soviet Union

    Steinbeck and Robert Capa visited the Black Sea port of Batumi during their 1947 Soviet journey. No more precise date is stated.

12. First Soviet journey: Kyiv

    1947-01-01 · Kyiv, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union

    Steinbeck and photographer Robert Capa visited Kyiv during their 1947 Soviet journey, later documented in A Russian Journal. No more precise date is stated.

13. First Soviet journey: Moscow

    1947-01-01 · Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union

    Steinbeck traveled through the Soviet Union with photographer Robert Capa in 1947; Moscow was among the places they visited for the reporting that became A Russian Journal. No more precise date is stated.

14. First Soviet journey: Stalingrad

    1947-01-01 · Stalingrad, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union

    Steinbeck and Robert Capa visited Stalingrad during their 1947 Soviet journey, one of the first American visits to many Soviet locations after the revolution. Stalingrad is now Volgograd, Russia. No more precise date is stated.

15. First Soviet journey: Tbilisi

    1947-01-01 · Tbilisi, Georgian SSR, Soviet Union

    Steinbeck and Robert Capa visited Tbilisi during their 1947 journey through the Soviet Union. No more precise date is stated.

16. Emergency return to Monterey

    1948-05-01 · Monterey, California, United States

    

    Steinbeck returned to Monterey to be with his gravely injured friend Ed Ricketts after Ricketts's automobile was struck by a train; Ricketts died shortly before Steinbeck arrived.

17. Meeting Elaine Scott in Carmel

    1949-06-01 · Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, United States

    

    Steinbeck met stage manager Elaine Scott at a Carmel restaurant. They later married in December 1950, and their marriage lasted until his death. The exact restaurant is not identified.

18. Arthurian research residence in Somerset

    1959-03-01 · Discove, Redlynch, Somerset, England, United Kingdom

    Steinbeck and Elaine rented a cottage in Discove, Redlynch, near Bruton, while he researched his Arthurian retelling, later published posthumously as The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights. Coordinate is a representative point for the hamlet of Discove/Redlynch area.

19. Visit to Cadbury Castle

    1959-03-01 · Cadbury Castle, South Cadbury, Somerset, England, United Kingdom

    During his Somerset residence, Steinbeck visited Cadbury Castle, a nearby hillfort associated in tradition with Camelot and King Arthur's court. The source places this visit within the March-to-October 1959 Somerset stay but does not date it more precisely.

20. Travels with Charley road trip

    1960-01-01 · United States

    

    Steinbeck drove across the United States with his poodle Charley in his camper truck Rocinante, a journey associated with Travels with Charley. The work's reportage has subsequently been disputed, but the road trip itself is documented. Coordinate is a representative point for the country-wide journey; the source does not establish one specific location or date.

21. Nobel Prize ceremony in Stockholm

    1962-12-10 · Stockholm Concert Hall, Stockholm, Sweden

    

    Steinbeck received the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature at the Stockholm Concert Hall, where King Gustaf VI Adolf presented the Nobel Medal and Diploma to the laureates.

22. Presidential Medal of Freedom ceremony

    1964-09-14 · East Room, White House, Washington, D.C., United States

    President Lyndon B. Johnson presented Steinbeck with the Presidential Medal of Freedom during a White House ceremony in the East Room.

23. Visit to Tel Aviv and Mount Hope site

    1966-02-01 · Tel Aviv, Israel

    

    Steinbeck and Elaine traveled to Israel. In Tel Aviv he visited the site of Mount Hope, the agricultural community founded by his grandfather. Coordinate is for Tel Aviv because the source identifies the city but does not provide the exact Mount Hope site location.

24. War reporting visit to Vietnam

    1967-01-01 · Vietnam

    At Newsday's request, Steinbeck went to Vietnam to report on the Vietnam War. While there he visited one of his sons on the battlefield and spent time at a firebase watch position. The source does not identify the battlefield or firebase; coordinate is a representative point for Vietnam.

25. Death in Manhattan

    1968-12-20 · Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States

    Steinbeck died in Manhattan, New York City, of heart disease and congestive heart failure at age 66. The source does not identify the exact building or hospital.