Steinbeck

JOHN STEINBECK (1902 - 1968)

Steinbeck, author of The Grapes of Wrath, Of Mice and Men and other celebrated works, became Nobel Laureate in 1962. He had been fascinated by Thomas Malory since the age of nine, and themes like King Arthur's round table (in e.g. Tortilla Flat) and Sir Lancelot's treachery can be found in several novels. For the last ten years of his life indeed he became obsessed by his project for a book on Malory. In this he was encouraged by President Kennedy, whose own period in office had been dubbed 'Camelot' by some. After the president's assassination, Steinbeck wrote to Mrs Kennedy, poignantly referring to Arthur and the lament of Sir Ector de Marys in Malory.

Steinbeck drove round northern England in 1957, and rented a cottage in Bruton, Somerset, for several months in 1959, to explore supposed Arthurian sites in the West Country. In October 1961 he came north again by car to the Roman Wall and staed at The George, at Chollerford. There he wrote on 23 October:

'We are loving these few days of quiet. There's a great rain and wind and the Tyne is swollen and brown with peat water. Then there are splashes of blinding sunlight. There is a great Roman fort near here and a section of the wall we haven't seen, so we'll probably walk there tomorrow.'

Around 26 October, he writes in another letter:

'This place 'The George' Chollerford is one of the very most places in England. We look out on Tyne and a wide horizon and the rains and suns chase each other.'

Steinbeck was back in Northumberland in November 1965, with the famous Malory scholar Professor Vinaver of Manchester, examining manuscripts in Alnwick Castle library. Steinbeck wrote rather prematurely of his 'discoveries' there and the project petered out with some embarrassment all round. His research on Malory was never published in his lifetime, but at the end of his life, he and his wife compared memories and decided that the best part of their years together was the quest for Arthur in England.

Myers Literary Guide:	The North-East
JOHN STEINBECK (1902 - 1968) Steinbeck, author of The Grapes of Wrath, Of Mice and Men and other celebrated works, became Nobel Laureate in 1962. He had been fascinated by Thomas Malory since the age of nine, and themes like King Arthur's round table (in e.g. Tortilla Flat) and Sir Lancelot's treachery can be found in several novels. For the last ten years of his life indeed he became obsessed by his project for a book on Malory. In this he was encouraged by President Kennedy, whose own period in office had been dubbed 'Camelot' by some. After the president's assassination, Steinbeck wrote to Mrs Kennedy, poignantly referring to Arthur and the lament of Sir Ector de Marys in Malory. Steinbeck drove round northern England in 1957, and rented a cottage in Bruton, Somerset, for several months in 1959, to explore supposed Arthurian sites in the West Country. In October 1961 he came north again by car to the Roman Wall and staed at The George, at Chollerford. There he wrote on 23 October: 'We are loving these few days of quiet. There's a great rain and wind and the Tyne is swollen and brown with peat water. Then there are splashes of blinding sunlight. There is a great Roman fort near here and a section of the wall we haven't seen, so we'll probably walk there tomorrow.' Around 26 October, he writes in another letter: 'This place 'The George' Chollerford is one of the very most places in England. We look out on Tyne and a wide horizon and the rains and suns chase each other.' Steinbeck was back in Northumberland in November 1965, with the famous Malory scholar Professor Vinaver of Manchester, examining manuscripts in Alnwick Castle library. Steinbeck wrote rather prematurely of his 'discoveries' there and the project petered out with some embarrassment all round. His research on Malory was never published in his lifetime, but at the end of his life, he and his wife compared memories and decided that the best part of their years together was the quest for Arthur in England.
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