Talk:John Steinbeck

Steinbeck and Thompson Sub-machine gun?

Where did this nonsense come from? Steinbeck said categorically in his ‘Once There Was a War’ that he was a correspondent and ‘certainly did not fight’. Has his report of the capture by a handful paratroopers of the islet of Ventotene been inflated into this fiction?

Photograph date error

it is stated in the photograph description of john and Elaine as being 1950 but on inspection of the back of the photo is dated 1963 which would closer resemble their appearance than their 1950 ages....a small error but yet another "protected" (locked in other words) page which severely and hypocritically undermines wikipedias supposed "anyone can edit" status/policy 2A01:4C8:46D:B7DF:1:2:25AA:BDCC (talk) 01:08, 14 March 2023 (UTC)

Please provide a source so we too can see the back of the photo. If you're right, we'll fix it.

We use semi-protection to stop vandals, so it's necessary on a major article like this one, and any experienced (a very low bar) editor can still edit the article. -- Valjean (talk) (PING me) 01:26, 14 March 2023 (UTC)

Hi, I just wanted to write about the same error. The photo was actually made on No 17, 1962. See the original here: https://www.gettyimages.de/detail/nachrichtenfoto/steinbeck-and-his-third-wife-the-former-elaine-scott-nachrichtenfoto/514682234 2A02:8071:2C84:C760:9E03:23F5:F7AB:4762 (talk) 11:12, 14 December 2023 (UTC)

@Valjean This error is still present. 50.54.222.222 (talk) 01:48, 1 April 2025 (UTC)

Johann Adolf Großsteinbeck (1828–1913), Steinbeck's paternal grandfather,

Not his grandfather, his sister. Jaceogle (talk) 22:20, 29 April 2026 (UTC)

Reorganization of sections

I think this article could use a reorganization. First of all, it really should include a complete list of works in one place. And the information contained in the Writing subsection of the Career section should be combined somehow with the Major Works section -- no need to repeat detailed information about the same works twice. Interested to hear what others think. Meandrian (talk) 15:17, 26 May 2026 (UTC)

Steinbeck's Sag Harbor House

From 1955 until his death John Steinbeck lived in Sag Harbor, New York which was then a working class enclave quite different from the luxury estates of the Hamptons. The house has been bought by the Sag Harbor Partnership and transfered to the Steinbeck House Sag Habor, Inc.. The photo in the Personal Life section, according to the website, is John and his wife Elaine at this Sag Harbor residence. There is an essay on the website that references some secondary sources, but I was unable to find them online. The house was added to the National Registry of Historic Places in August of 2025. I'm adding this note and will follow up with some minor changes to the article text to reflect this. PaigePhault (talk) 19:44, 26 May 2026 (UTC)

Steinbeck's first visit to Russia

It's written here: "In 1947, Steinbeck made his first trip to the Soviet Union..." In fact, his first visit to USSR was in 1937: https://www.steinbeckintheschools.com/authors-context/chronology ~2026-41787-87 (talk) 13:23, 26 July 2026 (UTC)