John Steinbeck Salinas, Monterey and parts of the San Joaquin Valley were the setting for many of his stories. The area is now sometimes referred to as "Steinbeck Country". Most of his early work dealt with subjects familiar to him from his formative years. An exception was his first novel, "", which concerns the pirate Henry Morgan, whose adventures had captured Steinbeck's imagination as a child. In his subsequent novels, Steinbeck found a more authentic voice by drawing upon direct memories of his life in California. His childhood friend, Max Wagner, a brother of Jack Wagner and who later became a film
John Harris (author) John Harris (author) John Harris (born 1949) is an American author, best known for Numerican Nation: A Self Portrait, in which he chronicles the first thirty years of his life and his views on United States politics from the perspective of the descendants of slavery. Harris was born in Camden, South Carolina. He moved to Mount Vernon, New York in 1958. He graduated from Mount Vernon High School, then continued on to Central Connecticut State University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in Political Science. He later earned his M.S. in Organizational Behavior from the University of Hartford. He is