John Steinbeck

John Steinbeck might well be called the conscience of America; throughout his career, the novelist wrote fiction permeated by social concerns and the plight of the downtrodden. Most consider The Grapes of Wrath (1939), his searing examination of the plight of migrant workers fleeing the Dust Bowl, to be his finest work, but he wrote several other acknowledged classics, including Of Mice and Men (1937), The Pearl (1947) and East of Eden (1952). In addition to his literary career, however, several of his works were made into successful films, and he penned a number of original screenplays as well, such as "Lifeboat" (1944) and "Viva Zapata!" (1952) for which he received Academy Award nominations; in 1962, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.