| − | '''John Steinbeck''' (b.1902 in Salinas, California - d.1968 in [[NYC]]) was an [[American]] author known for describing human suffering, particularly among migrant workers. He was also masculine in his style, and a supporter of the [[Vietnam War]] who admired some of the military weaponry. Steinbeck's writings generally reflect, with one notable exception, a higher respect for prostitutes than socially accepted women. | + | '''John Steinbeck''' (b.1902 in Salinas, California - d.1968 in [[NYC]]) was an [[American]] author known for describing human suffering, particularly among migrant workers. He was also masculine in his style, and a supporter of the [[Vietnam War]] who admired some of the military weaponry. Steinbeck's writings generally reflect, with one notable exception, a higher respect for prostitutes (of whom there were many in his novels) than socially accepted women. |
| | Steinbeck attended [[Stanford University]] without graduating. He wrote the [[Pulitzer Prize]]-winning novel about a migrant family entitled ''The Grapes of Wrath'' (1939), which was the best-selling book of that year with sales of 430,000 by February 1940. He also wrote fifteen other novels, six non-fiction books and several collections of short stories. In 1962 Steinbeck received the [[Nobel Prize]] for Literature. On the personal side, he forced his first wife to have an [[abortion]] against her desire to keep the baby; the abortion was botched to her severe harm.<ref>https://thebridgehead.ca/2020/01/10/how-the-curse-of-abortion-has-haunted-americas-literary-greats/</ref> They divorced in 1943, and soon afterwards Steinbeck married Gwedolyn “Gwyn” Conger, a 20-year-old jazz singer 17 years younger than Steinbeck, and they had two children. In 1948 they divorced, and in 1950 Steinbeck married his third wife, Elaine Scott.<ref>https://sits.sjsu.edu/context/influencers/</ref> | | Steinbeck attended [[Stanford University]] without graduating. He wrote the [[Pulitzer Prize]]-winning novel about a migrant family entitled ''The Grapes of Wrath'' (1939), which was the best-selling book of that year with sales of 430,000 by February 1940. He also wrote fifteen other novels, six non-fiction books and several collections of short stories. In 1962 Steinbeck received the [[Nobel Prize]] for Literature. On the personal side, he forced his first wife to have an [[abortion]] against her desire to keep the baby; the abortion was botched to her severe harm.<ref>https://thebridgehead.ca/2020/01/10/how-the-curse-of-abortion-has-haunted-americas-literary-greats/</ref> They divorced in 1943, and soon afterwards Steinbeck married Gwedolyn “Gwyn” Conger, a 20-year-old jazz singer 17 years younger than Steinbeck, and they had two children. In 1948 they divorced, and in 1950 Steinbeck married his third wife, Elaine Scott.<ref>https://sits.sjsu.edu/context/influencers/</ref> |