[FRIAM] John Steinbeck in the 21st century

[Jochen Fromm]

I've read Cannery Row and liked it. I like the books from Steinbeck in general. What is the name of the biography from the Doc? "Beyond the Outer Shores" ? Is it recommendable? -JochenSent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.
-------- Original message --------From: Steven A Smith <sasmyth at swcp.com> Date: 10/25/19  16:53  (GMT+01:00) To: friam at redfish.com Subject: Re: [FRIAM] John Steinbeck in the 21st century ...On a
      recent pleasure/work trip I *re*visited Monterrey CA and Cannery
      Row which lead me to *re*read Steinbeck's Cannery Row which lead
      me to read something of a biography of the Doc character in his
      novel (and the movie) for whom the prototype was Ed Ricketts...
    Beyond the Outer Shores was written roughly 15 years ago,
      recounting Ricketts' life and career.  I knew that Steinbeck was
      a good friend of Ricketts but I was not aware of how much work
      they did together, including a summer of kayaking in the Sea of
      Cortez which yielded the data for the book they co-authored by the
      name "Sea of Cortez".   I was also unaware that Joseph Campbell
      spent his formative (adult) years in the company of both of these
      mens (and more to the point, Ricketts).   The author of this
      biography credits Ricketts as being highly influential in the work
      of both Steinbeck (beyond Cannery Row) and Campbell, and credits
      him with leading the transition from traditional biology focused
      on taxonomic approaches to identification of collected specimens. 
      Ricketts approached collecting and identifying (mostly marine)
      species as well as writing them up in his famous trilogy on the
      topic in the context of a newly emergent field of "ecology".   He
      was simultaneously under-appreciated due to his lack of formal
      education, his lack of academic affiliation whilst also being a
      highly prolific commercial collector/supplier of specimens to the
      same community while identifying a huge number of new species
      (perhaps only recognizing the subtle differences based on habitat
      and foodweb relations) within his purview (the range of the
      Pacific coast along the North American coast from Bering Sea to
      Panama).
    On 10/23/19 3:39 PM, Jochen Fromm
      wrote:
    
    
      
      I recently stumbled upon John Steinbeck's classic
        novel "The Grapes of Wrath" and wonder if it is similar to the
        situation today. You will all know it since it is often read in
        High Schools, right? (I had to read Goethe in School. And
        "Animal Farm" plus "To kill a Mocking Bird" in the English
        class).
      
      
      As you know Steinbeck describes how migrants from
        Oklahoma called Okies look for a better life in California. They
        travel along the Route 66, which Steinbeck helped to make
        popular, passed Albuquerque and Santa Fe, and drove to the West
        until they arrived in California where the locals disliked and
        rejected them.
      https://www.nationalgeographic.org/news/grapes-wrath
      
      
      Today we have migrants from Cuba and Mexico
        looking for a better life in the US and refugees from Syria and
        Afghanistan who cause a lot of trouble in the EU. Many of these
        refugees and migrants live in camps, just like the ones
        Steinbeck visited. 
      https://www.theguardian.com/books/2002/feb/02/johnsteinbeck.socialsciences
      
      
      Steinbeck's novel takes place during the "Dust
        Bowl". Today the dry regions in the South suffer from droughts
        and wild fires caused by Climate Change worldwide. Everything
        sounds similar, as if history is repeating itself. 
      https://www.history.com/news/10-things-you-may-not-know-about-the-dust-bowl
      
      
      -J.
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
        
        
      
      
      
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