Nan's separation from Ricketts in 1932 was the first of many separations. In 1936 Ricketts and Nan separated for good, and he took up residence in his lab. On 25 November 1936, a fire spread from the adjacent cannery, destroying the lab. Ricketts lost nearly everything, including an extraordinary amount of correspondence, research notes, manuscripts, and his prized library, which had held everything from invaluable scientific resources to his beloved collection of poetry. However, the manuscript of Ricketts' textbook (with Jack Calvin) "Between Pacific Tides" had already been sent to the publisher. John Steinbeck would become a silent 50% partner in the lab, after funding its reconstruction costs.