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. 4 b * ot ae I i jr wade? | Ee er er ere er yt ate en A a eR A, ER Seg a Ee ee UN!ITED-STATES GOVERNMENT Memoré .dum DATE: 7-20-65 Belmon Moh; h -* Cal Callahan Conrad Felt Gale Sullivan Tavel lage. Mr. DeLoach Trotter Tele. Room Holmes O14 INFORMATION cornu wr SERETH 15 UNCLASSE TF, ¢, brn, fhe re SUBJECT: JOHN ERNST STEINBECK WKCEPT WHERE SHON | fal 73 16% yor DECINSSTE IED BY on /- & oer he In response to Mr. Tolson's request, the following data is being set out as a result of a a check of our files on captioned individual. ee fitd ra wee See etnagt A Finbeck was born at Salinas, California, on February 27, : __1902. He was a a» Dhadent at Stanford University for five years but did not graduate. ~ He married Carol Henning in 1930 and was divorced from her in March, 1943. 5a s married Gwyn Conger on March 29, 1943, and Elaine Scott on December 28, 1950.34 He has been the author of a number of books and was awarded the Pulitzer prize in 1940. He was also employed as a war correspondent and as a writer for the "New York Herald Tribune" during 1943, 1944, 1947 and 1948. Although he has never been investigated by the FBI, he wrote Attorney General Biddle in May, 1942, as follows: "Do you suppose you could eB) ask Edgar's boys to stop stepping on my heels? They think I am an enemy Cr : * } : » It is getting tiresome." Army Intelligence (G-2) investigated Steinbeck during 1943 to: -.B 3 determine suitability to hold commission in Army, but was recommended ungav * Cee bar ably. Carol Steinbeck (first wife, divorced 1943), registered as a Communit i California in 1938 to see reaction it would cause. Steinbeck opposed his, wife! s action, and he was registered as a Democrat. (ZX ‘Per Orn 14 Steinbeck reporiedly associated with communists during early days 10261041 tn awathar matarial far hanke hit wae not intaractad in itd ab aww au ahs ew Baris SLAG CW hk 2 AW RSE BR OFT Ge AW BS ested aa Wri in ys Absiignw v1] of hic advancing the cause of the ‘Party. Many of his writings, including “Grapes of Wrath," 1939, were about poverty-stricken migrant workers and portrayed the sordid side of American life. Due to the nature of his writings they were translated into foreign languages and widely distributed by enemies of the United States (both Nazis and Soviets), as examples of life in the United States even though the communists were reportedly at odds with him as they did not feel he adequately portrayed American communists.or life in n Ryssia. C- ~ 4. / 2 “1-Mr. Tolson 1 - Mr. Betoach “2 COdm fOCE LP | _H | —_—_——— oo "O 4 J J @ JUL 23 1965 e+) 50 “ut 98196 CRIME ira] g f bd / faa