Thomas Steinbeck writing, and the communication arts. He served as a board member of both the National Steinbeck Center in Salinas, California and "The Center for Steinbeck Studies" at San Jose State University. And once every year, he would personally present the John Steinbeck Award through his foundation, "The John Steinbeck Family Foundation" in affiliation with "The Center for Steinbeck Studies". During his lifetime, Steinbeck was an advocate for authors' rights. In 2009, he and his friend, folk-singer Arlo Guthrie (another son of a famous father), brought a copyright infringement lawsuit against Google which was eventually settled. At the time of his
John Steinbeck of German, English, and Irish descent. Johann Adolf Großsteinbeck (1828–1913), Steinbeck's paternal grandfather, shortened the family name to Steinbeck when he immigrated to the United States. The family farm in Heiligenhaus, Mettmann, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, is still named "Großsteinbeck." His father, John Ernst Steinbeck (1862–1935), served as Monterey County treasurer. John's mother, Olive Hamilton (1867–1934), a former school teacher, shared Steinbeck's passion for reading and writing. The Steinbecks were members of the Episcopal Church, although Steinbeck later became agnostic. Steinbeck lived in a small rural town, no more than a frontier settlement, set in some of the world's most fertile