Born on February 27, 1902 in Salinas, California in 1902, was a writer I consider a major personal influence.
John Steinbeck built his reputation writing about the struggles of down-and-out people: Dust Bowl farmers and pearl divers, prostitutes, jobless migrants, and Depression-era hobos. Before his death in 1968, Steinbeck became one of America’s most popular storytellers and among his many works are the epic classic The Grapes of Wrath and the brief but memorable Of Mice and Men.
In later years, he signed all his letters with a “pigasus” logo: a funny stamp of a little round pig with wings.Around the pig, Steinbeck added the words, Ad Astra Per Alia Porci, or “To the stars on the wings of a pig”—an apt motto for an author who portrayed the goodness, even holiness, of the common man. What do you know about the man who won a Nobel Prize in 1962? Try this quiz adapted from Don’t Know Much About Literature
1. What did Steinbeck study at Stanford? (Hint: he returned to this subject in his non-fiction book, Sea of Cortez, 1941, with Edward F. Ricketts.)
2. Who wrote and performed the song, “The Ballad of Tom Joad,” inspired by the main character in The Grapes of Wrath?
3. What Biblical story inspired the family drama in East of Eden?
4. Which of John Steinbeck’s novels have been adapted into Oscar-winning films?
5. Steinbeck wrote the screenplay for what biopic (for which Anthony Quinn won an Oscar)?
Here’s a link to the Steinbeck Center in Salinas, CA. with a brief biography and other information
http://www.steinbeck.org/Bio.html
Answers
1. Marine Biology.
2. Woody Guthrie. Bruce Springsteen also wrote a song inspired by The Grapes of Wrath: “The Ghost of Tom Joad,” released on an album of the same name.
3. The story of Cain and Abel.
4. The Grapes of Wrath (1940) won two Oscars (Best Actress and Best Director) out of five nominations. East of Eden (1955) won Best Actress. Of Mice and Men (1939), Tortilla Flat (1942), Lifeboat (1944) (based on a Steinbeck short story), and A Medal for Benny (1945) (another short story) all received Academy Award nominations.
5. Viva Zapata!
