Steinbeck at War Brings Wrobel to Salinas, California

David M. Wrobel—Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Oklahoma University, President-Elect of the Western History Association, and Visiting Scholar at the National Steinbeck Center—recently spent a busy week in Salinas, California speaking to audiences young and not-so-young about John Steinbeck’s war reporting in World War II and, 20 years later, in Vietnam. On September 5 Wrobel explored the question of the century—“Who was John Steinbeck?—with an energetic group of fifth and sixth graders from schools named for famous figures, including John Steinbeck, Cesar Chavez, and Oscar Loya, the former superintendent of schools for the district settled by “Okies” and others, east of Salinas.  On September 6 he met with John Wood’s English class at Everett Alvarez High School, then led discussion of Steinbeck’s controversial career as a war correspondent at the National Steinbeck Center—a presentation which he repeated the following day at the Monterey Public Library. Wrobel holds the Merrick Chair in Western American History at the University of Oklahoma, but he discovered Steinbeck as a British school boy growing up in London council housing. Though an Englishman explaining Steinbeck to Californians might sound a bit like bringing coals to Newcastle, Wrobel’s enthusiasm is infectious, as shown in this photo of his reception by American school children assembled for the purpose in Steinbeck’s home town.