I was lucky enough this summer to spend some time in Salinas, California at my son-in-law's family ranch. He has a million stories of spending every summer there while growing up, along with his five siblings. Other than the fact that he almost died by falling off a truck, I can see what magical summers they must of had.
This is definitely John Steinbeck country, my all time favorite author since American Lit in college. I remember at first struggling through Grapes of Wrath, but once I hit the turning point I couldn't get enough of his writing. It was a perfect time in my life to be reading about social injustices, hard people in hard times, sprinkled with profanity. I had never been to California and I knew I would end up there someday. I went on to read all of his books, and while I loved them all, nothing was as powerful as the ending to Grapes of Wrath. I was pleased that Oprah picked East of Eden as her book club choice and hopefully she got a lot of people to read it who wouldn't have otherwise.
Seeing the migrant workers in action, always makes my heart ache a little, not to mention the guilt. Unfortunately, things have not changed all that much.
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