Born on the 27th of February, 1902 was John Steinbeck in Salinas, California. He was the third child of Olive Hamilton and John Ernst Steinbeck. His mother worked as a school teacher, while his father a manager at a flour mill. He has two older sisters and a younger sister. Their names were Esther, Beth, and Mary. Throughout his childhood until he went to Stanford in 1919, he experienced a normal and what could be considered a comfortable childhood with setbacks just as every family has. He had a few inspirations for his work early on in his childhood, the first was when he received his own pony which had later on become a inspiration for his writing of The Red Pony. The second would be when his aunt gave him Le Morte d’Arthur on his ninth
