The Log From The Sea Of Cortez Part 1

The log from the Sea of Cortez.

by John Steinbeck.

INTRODUCTION.

In February 1995, a large and diverse group of Californians, most of them at least in their mid-seventies, gathered on Cannery Row to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of Steinbeck's novel of the same name, and otherwise to reminisce about the two men who made the Row famous: the novelist himself and his closest personal and intellectual companion, marine biologist Edward F. Ricketts. The event was billed as "a symposium," and was co-sponsored by the Cannery Row Foundation and Steinbeck Research Center at San Jose State University. But given the list of partic.i.p.ants-Including two of Ricketts's children; Joel Hedgpeth, senior curmudgeon of the California intertidal; Virginia Scardigli, former teacher and friend of both Steinbeck and Ricketts; Alan Baldrige, for many years the librarian at Stanford University's Hopkins Marine Station on Ocean Avenue near the Row; and Robert Enea, a nephew of two of the crew members from the Sea of Cortez expedition-the event was less a symposium than a giant party. And this seemed an appropriate way to commemorate the publication of the book in which Steinbeck wrote that every party has its own pathology, and that "a party hardly ever goes the way it is planned or intended." Of course, that book's leading character is a fictionalized version of Steinbeck's closest friend and his collaborator on Sea of Cortez Sea of Cortez-his most important work of nonfiction, a volume which contains the core of Steinbeck's worldview, his philosophy of life, and the essence of a relations.h.i.+p between a novelist and a scientist that ranks among the most famous friends.h.i.+ps in American letters. If many tall tales were told at the symposium, embellished by years of telling, it made no difference, except to enhance the festivities. For whatever the excesses, the surviving few from the Steinbeck-Ricketts years knew and talked about the breadth and depth of a friends.h.i.+p that was deep and permanent, and that, because of the impact of Ricketts's thinking on Steinbeck's most important fiction, accounts in large measure for the novelist's success as a writer.

Cannery Row was published five years after the Steinbeck-Ricketts expedition to the Gulf of California, and while Ricketts's life in Monterey remained largely unchanged afterward (he was drafted into the army during World War II, but never left the Monterey presidio), Steinbeck departed California altogether. His marriage to his first wife, Carol, ended. He romanced Hollywood singer Gwen Conger, married her in New Orleans, joined the war effort as a correspondent for the New York Row was published five years after the Steinbeck-Ricketts expedition to the Gulf of California, and while Ricketts's life in Monterey remained largely unchanged afterward (he was drafted into the army during World War II, but never left the Monterey presidio), Steinbeck departed California altogether. His marriage to his first wife, Carol, ended. He romanced Hollywood singer Gwen Conger, married her in New Orleans, joined the war effort as a correspondent for the New York Herald Tribune, Herald Tribune, wrote a novelette about the war ent.i.tled wrote a novelette about the war ent.i.tled The Moon Is Down The Moon Is Down (1942) and some propaganda pieces for the Army Air Corps that were later published as (1942) and some propaganda pieces for the Army Air Corps that were later published as Bombs Away Bombs Away (1943), bought a brownstone on Manhattan's East Side, and gradually became a New Yorker. He and Ricketts communicated by mail, but they hardly ever saw each other again. (1943), bought a brownstone on Manhattan's East Side, and gradually became a New Yorker. He and Ricketts communicated by mail, but they hardly ever saw each other again.

Cannery Row, which Steinbeck claims he wrote for a group of soldiers who told him to write something funny, something that wasn't about the war, is more nostalgia than anything else, and the leading character, Doc, is a Ricketts who sometimes resembles the original and is at other times purely a creation of Steinbeck's imagination. He is not the Ricketts who co-auth.o.r.ed which Steinbeck claims he wrote for a group of soldiers who told him to write something funny, something that wasn't about the war, is more nostalgia than anything else, and the leading character, Doc, is a Ricketts who sometimes resembles the original and is at other times purely a creation of Steinbeck's imagination. He is not the Ricketts who co-auth.o.r.ed Sea of Cortez, Sea of Cortez, which was published days before Pearl Harbor was bombed and America entered the war that separated two men whose ideas were so closely interrelated that it is sometimes difficult to know who learned what from whom. That relations.h.i.+p and the thinking of the two men who wrote it are what which was published days before Pearl Harbor was bombed and America entered the war that separated two men whose ideas were so closely interrelated that it is sometimes difficult to know who learned what from whom. That relations.h.i.+p and the thinking of the two men who wrote it are what Sea of Cortez Sea of Cortez is really all about. It is a useful work of travel literature, and it is a pioneering work of intertidal ecology, though it was written a full three decades before Earth Day turned environmental thinking into one of our national pastimes. is really all about. It is a useful work of travel literature, and it is a pioneering work of intertidal ecology, though it was written a full three decades before Earth Day turned environmental thinking into one of our national pastimes.

When Steinbeck died in December 1968, his critical reputation as a writer was severely tarnished. He had written little of significance in nearly two decades, and his support of the American war effort in Vietnam had put him in critical disrepute among even those critics who earlier had commended him as the champion of the victims of the Oklahoma dustbowl and the avarice of California agribusiness in The Grapes of Wrath, The Grapes of Wrath, and for his compelling portraits of the simple but decent denizens of the Central California valleys in and for his compelling portraits of the simple but decent denizens of the Central California valleys in Of Mice and Men, The Red Pony, and The Pastures of Heaven. Of Mice and Men, The Red Pony, and The Pastures of Heaven. When he died, there were few serious scholars who did not share Harry T. Moore's feeling that his ultimate status as a writer would be that of a Louis Bromfield or a Bess Streeter Aldrich, and that even his best books were watered down by what Arthur Mizener called his "tenth-rate philosophizing." When he died, there were few serious scholars who did not share Harry T. Moore's feeling that his ultimate status as a writer would be that of a Louis Bromfield or a Bess Streeter Aldrich, and that even his best books were watered down by what Arthur Mizener called his "tenth-rate philosophizing."

History has proved otherwise. During the past quarter century, a veritable Steinbeck industry has emerged. All of his books have been reprinted. Important full-length critical studies have been published by major academic presses, and articles on virtually every aspect of his work have appeared in the best scholarly journals. The publication of his letters by his widow, Elaine, in collaboration with Robert Walsten, and a comprehensive and carefully researched biography by Jackson J. Benson, have shed new light on the man and his creative process. Steinbeck research centers now exist at several universities, most notably in the unlikely location of Muncie, Indiana, where, at Ball State University, Tetsumaro Hayas.h.i.+ began in 1969 publis.h.i.+ng the Steinbeck Quarterly, Steinbeck Quarterly, which helped young Steinbeck scholars to share their views long before the more prestigious journals were prepared to question the judgments of Harry Moore and Arthur Mizener. which helped young Steinbeck scholars to share their views long before the more prestigious journals were prepared to question the judgments of Harry Moore and Arthur Mizener.

Today, Steinbeck's reputation seems secure. While few would disagree that his canon as a whole reflects an uneven talent, it is clear that his best books champion ordinary men and women, simple souls who do battle against the forces that dehumanize the species, and who struggle, sometimes successfully, sometimes not, to forge lives of genuine meaning and worth. At the center of Steinbeck's thematic vision is a continuing dialectic between contrasting ways of life: between innocence and experience, between primitivism and progress, between narrow self-interest and an enduring commitment to the human community. His most interesting characters-George Milton and Lennie Small in Of Mice and Men, Mice and Men, Doc Burton of Doc Burton of In Dubious Battle, In Dubious Battle, Tom Joad and Jim Casy in The Tom Joad and Jim Casy in The Grapes of Wrath, Grapes of Wrath, and Mack and the boys in and Mack and the boys in Cannery Row Cannery Row-search for meaning in a world of human error and imperfection.

At the heart of this dialectic are the contrasting views of human society held by the novelist and Ed Ricketts. This contrast in views can be seen in Sea of Cortez, Sea of Cortez, and in large measure accounts for the book's importance. For while in much of his work, and most notably in and in large measure accounts for the book's importance. For while in much of his work, and most notably in The Grapes of Wrath, The Grapes of Wrath, Steinbeck celebrates what he calls "man's proven capacity for greatness of heart and spirit," the fact that man "grows beyond his work, walks up the stairs of his concepts, emerges ahead of his accomplishments," he also concedes (in the narrative portion of Steinbeck celebrates what he calls "man's proven capacity for greatness of heart and spirit," the fact that man "grows beyond his work, walks up the stairs of his concepts, emerges ahead of his accomplishments," he also concedes (in the narrative portion of Sea of Cortez) Sea of Cortez) that man "might be described fairly adequately, if simply, as a two-legged paradox. He has never become accustomed to the tragic miracle of consciousness. Perhaps, as has been suggested, his species is not set, has not jelled, but is still in a state of becoming, bound by his physical memories to a past of struggle and survival, limited in his futures by the uneasiness of thought and consciousness." that man "might be described fairly adequately, if simply, as a two-legged paradox. He has never become accustomed to the tragic miracle of consciousness. Perhaps, as has been suggested, his species is not set, has not jelled, but is still in a state of becoming, bound by his physical memories to a past of struggle and survival, limited in his futures by the uneasiness of thought and consciousness."

I have long believed and I have written elsewhere that "the tragic miracle of consciousness" is, for Steinbeck, man's greatest burden and his greatest glory. And it is the manner in which Steinbeck portrays this burden and this glory in his novels and his short stories that accounts for his success as a writer. This is the basis of the feeling in his fiction, the compa.s.sion, and at its extreme, his sentimentality. It was his central concern as a writer, from Henry Morgan's drive for power in Cup of Gold Cup of Gold and Joseph Wayne's search for meaning in To a and Joseph Wayne's search for meaning in To a G.o.d Unknown, G.o.d Unknown, to the last sentence of his n.o.bel Prize acceptance speech, in which he paraphrased John the Apostle, stating, "In the end is the Word, and the Word is Man, and the Word is with Man." It is to to the last sentence of his n.o.bel Prize acceptance speech, in which he paraphrased John the Apostle, stating, "In the end is the Word, and the Word is Man, and the Word is with Man." It is to Sea of Cortez Sea of Cortez that we must look if we are fully to understand all this, if we are to grasp the thematic vision of this writer whose books continue to be read and reread by millions of all ages, in his native California, across the United States, and throughout the world-where. in such diverse countries as Portugal and Poland, Mexico and Moldova, Steinbeck remains among the most loved and appreciated of all American novelists. that we must look if we are fully to understand all this, if we are to grasp the thematic vision of this writer whose books continue to be read and reread by millions of all ages, in his native California, across the United States, and throughout the world-where. in such diverse countries as Portugal and Poland, Mexico and Moldova, Steinbeck remains among the most loved and appreciated of all American novelists.

Though Steinbeck was born and grew up in the city of Salinas, a major processing center for the foodstuffs raised in one the most fertile agricultural lands in America, he spent much of his childhood and adolescence in the towns along nearby Monterey Bay. In 1930, he settled in the bayside community of Pacific Grove with his bride, Carol Henning, whom he met and married in nearby San Jose. The center of California's sardine fis.h.i.+ng industry, Pacific Grove and its neighboring communities of Monterey and Carmel were for many years California's "seacoast of bohemia." Robinson Jeffers built Tor House along Big Sur. Robert Louis Stevenson, Jack London, and Ambrose Bierce were frequent short-term visitors, and Charles Warren Stoddard, George Sterling, and Mary Austin were permanent residents. Monterey Bay itself, as Robert Louis Stevenson wrote in "The Old Pacific Capital," resembles a giant fishhook-with Monterey cozily ensconced beside the barb. Just outside the barb, in a cove embraced by rugged Point Lobos, lies Carmel. And just short of Point Lobos, the Carmel River reaches the sea, flowing down from what Stevenson called "a true California valley, bare, dotted with chaparral, overlooked by quaint, unfinished hills."

The Steinbecks were in poor financial shape as the decade began. His first novel, Cup of Gold, Cup of Gold, failed to sell, and Carol had given up a teaching job in San Jose to move with him to the Steinbeck cottage in Pacific Grove. When Steinbeck and Ricketts met in 1930 (not at a dentist's office as Steinbeck states in his retrospective "About Ed Ricketts," but rather at the home of Ricketts's friend and other collaborator, Jack Calvin), the most immediate result of their budding friends.h.i.+p was that Ricketts hired Carol as his secretary at his Pacific Biological Laboratory, where Ricketts made ends meet during the Great Depression by selling prepared slides to local high schools. At the same time, Steinbeck and Ricketts gradually developed a deep and lasting friends.h.i.+p, based largely on the novelist's interest in Ricketts's work in the intertidal. failed to sell, and Carol had given up a teaching job in San Jose to move with him to the Steinbeck cottage in Pacific Grove. When Steinbeck and Ricketts met in 1930 (not at a dentist's office as Steinbeck states in his retrospective "About Ed Ricketts," but rather at the home of Ricketts's friend and other collaborator, Jack Calvin), the most immediate result of their budding friends.h.i.+p was that Ricketts hired Carol as his secretary at his Pacific Biological Laboratory, where Ricketts made ends meet during the Great Depression by selling prepared slides to local high schools. At the same time, Steinbeck and Ricketts gradually developed a deep and lasting friends.h.i.+p, based largely on the novelist's interest in Ricketts's work in the intertidal.

It is generally a.s.sumed that Steinbeck's interest in marine science began when he met Ricketts. But Steinbeck had been interested in the subject for several years, at least since 1923, when he took a summer course in general zoology at the Hopkins Marine Station taught by C. V. Taylor. Taylor was a student of Charles Kofoid at Berkeley, and both were devotees of William Emerson Ritter, whose doctrine of the organismal conception of life formed the zeitgeist of the Berkeley biological sciences faculty at the time. In fact, Ritter's ideas were transmitted via Kofoid and Taylor to the young and impressionable Steinbeck, who years later told Hopkins professor Rolf Bolin that what he remembered most about his summer at Hopkins was Ritter's concept of the "superorganism."

Ritter believed that "in all parts of nature and in nature itself as one gigantic whole, wholes are so related to their parts that not only does the existence of the whole depend upon the orderly cooperation and interdependence of the parts, but the whole exercises a measure of determinative control over its parts." This notion of "wholeness" is inherent in every unit of existence, claimed Ritter, since each living unit is a unique whole, the parts of which "contribute their proper share to the structure and the functioning of the whole." Ritter believed that since "one's ability to construct his own nature from portions of nature in general is a basic fact of his reality," man is capable of understanding the organismal unity of life and, as a result, can know himself more fully. This, says Ritter, is "man's supreme glory"-not only "that he can know the world, but he can know himself as a knower of the world."

Ed Ricketts was not familiar with Ritter's work when he came to California in 1923, after an uneven career as a biology undergraduate at the University of Chicago (he grew up on the northwest side of the city). But Ritter's ideas had much in common with those of Ricketts's favorite teacher at the university, animal ecologist W. C. Allee, whose ideas about the universality of social behavior among animals, and whose theory that animals behave differently in groups than as individuals (described in detail in his cla.s.sic 1931 treatise on the subject, Animal Aggregations), Animal Aggregations), profoundly affected Ricketts's way of viewing life. Years later, Jack Calvin told this writer that "we knew W. C. Allee from Ed's conversations, discovering that all of his former students got a holy look in their eyes at the mention of his name, as Ed always did." Allee did much of his work at Woods Hole, Ma.s.sachusetts, where he eventually concluded that "the social medium is the condition necessary to the conservation and renewal of life," but that this is an automatic and not a conscious process. And when Allee turned his attention from the lower animals to man, he concluded that so-called altruistic drives in man "apparently are the development of these innate tendencies toward cooperation, which find their early physiological expression in many simpler animals." profoundly affected Ricketts's way of viewing life. Years later, Jack Calvin told this writer that "we knew W. C. Allee from Ed's conversations, discovering that all of his former students got a holy look in their eyes at the mention of his name, as Ed always did." Allee did much of his work at Woods Hole, Ma.s.sachusetts, where he eventually concluded that "the social medium is the condition necessary to the conservation and renewal of life," but that this is an automatic and not a conscious process. And when Allee turned his attention from the lower animals to man, he concluded that so-called altruistic drives in man "apparently are the development of these innate tendencies toward cooperation, which find their early physiological expression in many simpler animals."

Ritter's organismal conception, his idea that the whole is more than the sum of its parts and that these parts arise from a differentiation of the whole, is different from but complementary to Allee's thesis that organisms cooperate with one another to ensure their own survival. The ideas of these two pioneering ecologists provided an expansive intellectual ground upon which Steinbeck and Ricketts could develop their friends.h.i.+p. From almost the first day of their meeting, they became members of a larger group of latter-day Cannery Row bohemians, bound together by their poverty, which they combatted, as Jack Calvin noted, "by raiding local gardens and stealing vegetables for communal stews." Over time, Steinbeck drew very close to Ricketts. They spent endless hours in Ed's lab discussing the work of Allee and Ritter as Steinbeck worked on his novels and short stories and Ricketts studied what he called "the good, kind, sane little animals," the marine invertebrates of the Central California coast.

In time, they both succeeded. Steinbeck achieved modest successes with his early short stories, greater glory with Tortilla Flat, Tortilla Flat, which won him critical recognition, and then-when he sold the movie rights to the novel for the then-magnificent sum of four thousand dollars-financial independence. In the late 1930s, his popularity skyrocketed as Of which won him critical recognition, and then-when he sold the movie rights to the novel for the then-magnificent sum of four thousand dollars-financial independence. In the late 1930s, his popularity skyrocketed as Of Mice and Men Mice and Men succeeded both as fiction and as theater, and as succeeded both as fiction and as theater, and as In Dubious Battle In Dubious Battle and and The Grapes of Wrath The Grapes of Wrath established him as a champion of the proletariat. Grapes was and remains Steinbeck's masterpiece. This epic account of the plight of a family of disinherited Oklahoma tenant farmers made Steinbeck a novelist of international stature. It is the book upon which his enduring reputation as a major American writer continues to rest. established him as a champion of the proletariat. Grapes was and remains Steinbeck's masterpiece. This epic account of the plight of a family of disinherited Oklahoma tenant farmers made Steinbeck a novelist of international stature. It is the book upon which his enduring reputation as a major American writer continues to rest.

Ricketts, on the other hand, worked away on his studies of life in the tidepools, taking the necessary time to maintain his prepared-slide business, which was his only source of income until 1939. That year, Stanford University Press published the results of his work in Between Pacific Between Pacific Tides, which Ricketts co-auth.o.r.ed with Jack Calvin. Calvin did little more than polish Ricketts's stilted prose into a thoroughly readable and very professional account of the habits and habitats of the animals living on the rocky sh.o.r.es and in the tide pools of the Pacific Coast. Some years later, Steinbeck wrote a foreword to the third edition of Tides, which Ricketts co-auth.o.r.ed with Jack Calvin. Calvin did little more than polish Ricketts's stilted prose into a thoroughly readable and very professional account of the habits and habitats of the animals living on the rocky sh.o.r.es and in the tide pools of the Pacific Coast. Some years later, Steinbeck wrote a foreword to the third edition of Tides, Tides, noting that the book "is designed more to stir curiosity than to answer questions.... There are good things to see in the tidepools and interesting thoughts to be generated from the seeing. Every new eye applied to the peephole which looks out at the world may fish in some new beauty and some new pattern, and the world of the human mind must be enriched by such fis.h.i.+ng." Ricketts's years of hard work paid off. noting that the book "is designed more to stir curiosity than to answer questions.... There are good things to see in the tidepools and interesting thoughts to be generated from the seeing. Every new eye applied to the peephole which looks out at the world may fish in some new beauty and some new pattern, and the world of the human mind must be enriched by such fis.h.i.+ng." Ricketts's years of hard work paid off. Between Pacific Tides Between Pacific Tides became the definitive source-book for studying marine life along the Pacific Coast, and even today it is read by students at every major oceanographic station from Southern California to British Columbia. became the definitive source-book for studying marine life along the Pacific Coast, and even today it is read by students at every major oceanographic station from Southern California to British Columbia.

The Grapes of Wrath and Between Pacific Tides were both published in 1939. Both authors were left fatigued. Steinbeck had moved to the Los Gatos hills some two or three years earlier, but the two remained close friends and saw one another often. For some time they had planned to write a book together-originally, a modest handbook for general readers about the marine life of San Francis...o...b..y. Ricketts drafted an outline for the book, and Steinbeck (whose partic.i.p.ation in the project has been largely unnoticed) suggested "shopping" the book to his publisher (Viking) and to Ricketts's (Stanford University), and giving it to the highest bidder. The book was to be written chiefly by Steinbeck, said Ricketts, and would be designed "so that it can be used by the sea coast wanderer who finds interest in the little bugs and would like to know what they are and how they live. Its treatment will revolt against the theory that only the dull is accurate and only the tiresome, valuable." were both published in 1939. Both authors were left fatigued. Steinbeck had moved to the Los Gatos hills some two or three years earlier, but the two remained close friends and saw one another often. For some time they had planned to write a book together-originally, a modest handbook for general readers about the marine life of San Francis...o...b..y. Ricketts drafted an outline for the book, and Steinbeck (whose partic.i.p.ation in the project has been largely unnoticed) suggested "shopping" the book to his publisher (Viking) and to Ricketts's (Stanford University), and giving it to the highest bidder. The book was to be written chiefly by Steinbeck, said Ricketts, and would be designed "so that it can be used by the sea coast wanderer who finds interest in the little bugs and would like to know what they are and how they live. Its treatment will revolt against the theory that only the dull is accurate and only the tiresome, valuable."

Even though Steinbeck wrote a three-thousand-word preface, and Ricketts over five thousand words of text, the Bay area handbook was never completed. It did, however, provide impetus for a larger, more expansive project, the 1940 collecting expedition to the Gulf of California which resulted in the subsequent collaboration on Sea of Cortez: A Leisurely Journal of Travel and Research. In Sea of Cortez: A Leisurely Journal of Travel and Research. In addition to those members of the crew who are mentioned in the volume, Steinbeck's wife Carol made the trip, which the couple hoped would serve to help salvage a failing marriage. It didn't. The addition to those members of the crew who are mentioned in the volume, Steinbeck's wife Carol made the trip, which the couple hoped would serve to help salvage a failing marriage. It didn't. The Western Flyer Western Flyer left Monterey Bay on March 11, and returned six weeks later on April 20. The four-thousand-mile trip covered some twenty-five to thirty collecting stations where Ricketts, Steinbeck, and the crew collected what Ricketts guessed was "the greatest lot of specimens ever to have been collected in the Gulf by any single expedition." left Monterey Bay on March 11, and returned six weeks later on April 20. The four-thousand-mile trip covered some twenty-five to thirty collecting stations where Ricketts, Steinbeck, and the crew collected what Ricketts guessed was "the greatest lot of specimens ever to have been collected in the Gulf by any single expedition."

After the trip, Steinbeck and Carol returned to their home in Los Gatos, where their marriage promptly collapsed, and where Steinbeck was dragged into controversy over The Grapes of Wrath, The Grapes of Wrath, which, during his absence, had been brutally attacked for its alleged communist sympathies. Typical was the charge by Phillip Bancroft of the a.s.sociated Farmers of California (and a former candidate for the United States Senate) that the novel "is straight revolutionary propaganda.... In page after page it tries to build cla.s.s hatred, contempt for officers of the law, and contempt for religion." Steinbeck felt some vindication, however, when he learned in early May that which, during his absence, had been brutally attacked for its alleged communist sympathies. Typical was the charge by Phillip Bancroft of the a.s.sociated Farmers of California (and a former candidate for the United States Senate) that the novel "is straight revolutionary propaganda.... In page after page it tries to build cla.s.s hatred, contempt for officers of the law, and contempt for religion." Steinbeck felt some vindication, however, when he learned in early May that Grapes Grapes had been awarded the Pulitzer Prize for fiction, though he was typically reticent about receiving the award, and turned over his one thousand dollars in prize money to a struggling Monterey writer named Richie Lovejoy, whose father had loaned Steinbeck money to begin his career a decade earlier. had been awarded the Pulitzer Prize for fiction, though he was typically reticent about receiving the award, and turned over his one thousand dollars in prize money to a struggling Monterey writer named Richie Lovejoy, whose father had loaned Steinbeck money to begin his career a decade earlier.

Ricketts spent the better part of a year identifying and cataloging specimens, and many more months pa.s.sed as the Viking Press a.s.sembled the volume, reproduced photographs of the most important animals collected, and dealt with the many criticisms and revisions of the authors as the book went to press. When Steinbeck returned to Cannery Row in January 1941, his marriage to Carol was over, and he was in the midst of a flouris.h.i.+ng affair with singer Gwen Conger. He worked on the book's narrative, and with Ricketts on matters relating to its publication, throughout the spring and summer of 1941. Pascal Covici, Steinbeck's editor at Viking, probably spent more time on the publication of Sea of Cortez Sea of Cortez than on any three of Steinbeck's other books combined. It was finally published during the first week of December 1941. But the reviews in the papers of Sunday, December 7, were hardly noticed as readers were distracted by events of much more immediate importance. than on any three of Steinbeck's other books combined. It was finally published during the first week of December 1941. But the reviews in the papers of Sunday, December 7, were hardly noticed as readers were distracted by events of much more immediate importance.

Those reviews that did appear were mixed, but largely favorable. The venerable Clifton Fadiman was miffed. He was at a loss to understand how the author of The Grapes of Wrath The Grapes of Wrath got mixed up with such a project in the first place, and he and others pointed to parts of the narrative that seemed obscure, almost unreadable. Joseph Henry Jackson, then the arbiter of literary taste in San Francisco, thought it "suspicious mysticism." In terms of its scientific value, the critical response was more favorable. Among the more disparaging was that of John Lyman, who noted that the authors said a great deal about the "Panamic" character of the Gulf's fauna, but gave "only the bare lists of forms taken at each collecting station." More approvingly, Rolf Bolin, the Hopkins ichthyologist and longtime friend of Steinbeck and Ricketts, wrote that it was a good book and would be a great aid to people going to the area to collect. But whatever its scientific merits, the fact is that the book is recognized by nearly all of Steinbeck's critics as a statement of his beliefs about man and the world; that, as Peter Lisca noted as early as 1958, it "stands to his work very much as got mixed up with such a project in the first place, and he and others pointed to parts of the narrative that seemed obscure, almost unreadable. Joseph Henry Jackson, then the arbiter of literary taste in San Francisco, thought it "suspicious mysticism." In terms of its scientific value, the critical response was more favorable. Among the more disparaging was that of John Lyman, who noted that the authors said a great deal about the "Panamic" character of the Gulf's fauna, but gave "only the bare lists of forms taken at each collecting station." More approvingly, Rolf Bolin, the Hopkins ichthyologist and longtime friend of Steinbeck and Ricketts, wrote that it was a good book and would be a great aid to people going to the area to collect. But whatever its scientific merits, the fact is that the book is recognized by nearly all of Steinbeck's critics as a statement of his beliefs about man and the world; that, as Peter Lisca noted as early as 1958, it "stands to his work very much as Death in the Afternoon and Green Hills of Africa Death in the Afternoon and Green Hills of Africa stand to that of Hemingway." Accordingly, it is essential to dispel myths about the book's authors.h.i.+p and to understand just how it was written. stand to that of Hemingway." Accordingly, it is essential to dispel myths about the book's authors.h.i.+p and to understand just how it was written.

Sea of Cortez is a big book, nearly six hundred pages long. For many years, it was a.s.sumed that Steinbeck wrote the first part, the narrative of the trip-published separately by Viking in 1951 as The Log from the The Log from the Sea of Cortez-and that Ricketts auth.o.r.ed the second part, a phyletic catalog describing the animals collected, prefaced by a series of notes on preparing specimens. At the same time, it was believed that the material for the narrative came from two journals, one kept by Steinbeck, the other by Ricketts. Both a.s.sumptions are inaccurate. There were two journals, but neither was kept by Steinbeck. Rather, they were kept by Ricketts and by Tony Berry, the owner and captain of the purse seiner which Steinbeck and Ricketts chartered for the trip. And while Steinbeck referred to Berry's log for matters of fact (chiefly dates and times), he composed the narrative chiefly from Ricketts's journal. Indeed, in a joint memorandum which the authors wrote to Covici in August 1941, they set the record straight: Sea of Cortez-and that Ricketts auth.o.r.ed the second part, a phyletic catalog describing the animals collected, prefaced by a series of notes on preparing specimens. At the same time, it was believed that the material for the narrative came from two journals, one kept by Steinbeck, the other by Ricketts. Both a.s.sumptions are inaccurate. There were two journals, but neither was kept by Steinbeck. Rather, they were kept by Ricketts and by Tony Berry, the owner and captain of the purse seiner which Steinbeck and Ricketts chartered for the trip. And while Steinbeck referred to Berry's log for matters of fact (chiefly dates and times), he composed the narrative chiefly from Ricketts's journal. Indeed, in a joint memorandum which the authors wrote to Covici in August 1941, they set the record straight:

Originally a journal of the trip was to have been kept by both of us, but the record was found to be a natural expression of only one of us. This journal was subsequently used by the other chiefly as a reminder of what had actually taken place, but in several cases parts of the original field notes were incorporated into the final narrative, and in one case a large section was lifted verbatim from other unpublished work. This was then pa.s.sed back to the other for comment, completion of certain chiefly technical details, and corrections. And then the correction was pa.s.sed back again.

In this memorandum to Covici, the authors dismiss the notion that Sea of Cortez Sea of Cortez is two books. Instead, they insist, "the structure is a collaboration, but mostly shaped by John. The book is the result." is two books. Instead, they insist, "the structure is a collaboration, but mostly shaped by John. The book is the result."

The phyletic catalog is a comprehensive and remarkably readable account of marine life in the gulf, though it is not as complete as Between Pacific Tides, Between Pacific Tides, because it is based on a single collecting trip rather than on a decade of study and research. What is unusual about it as a work of science, however, is that it focuses on common rather than on rare forms of marine life-since, note Ricketts and Steinbeck, they, "more than the total of all rare forms, [are] important in the biological economy." The Log portion of the book is a fascinating series of accounts of the lifestyle of the Indians of the gulf, and discussions of birth and death, navigation and history, and even the scientific method itself. Among the best sections are those in which the writers ridicule science that is cut off from the real concerns of human life. They label such scientists as "dryb.a.l.l.s" who create out of their own crusted minds "a world wrinkled with formaldehyde." Above all, though, the Log is a celebration of the holistic vision the authors shared, and in accordance with their "reverence" for the ideas of Allee and Ritter, this is depicted in terms more mystical and intuitive than scientific. "It is a strange thing that most of the feeling we call religious," they note in one of the most compelling pa.s.sages in the book, "most of the mystical outcrying, which is one of the prized and used and desired reactions of our species, is really the understanding and the attempt to say that man is related to the whole thing, related inextricably to all reality, known and unknowable." The narrative as a whole is the record of scientific discovery intermingled with explorations into philosophy, "bright with sun and wet with sea water," and "the whole crusted over with exploring thought." because it is based on a single collecting trip rather than on a decade of study and research. What is unusual about it as a work of science, however, is that it focuses on common rather than on rare forms of marine life-since, note Ricketts and Steinbeck, they, "more than the total of all rare forms, [are] important in the biological economy." The Log portion of the book is a fascinating series of accounts of the lifestyle of the Indians of the gulf, and discussions of birth and death, navigation and history, and even the scientific method itself. Among the best sections are those in which the writers ridicule science that is cut off from the real concerns of human life. They label such scientists as "dryb.a.l.l.s" who create out of their own crusted minds "a world wrinkled with formaldehyde." Above all, though, the Log is a celebration of the holistic vision the authors shared, and in accordance with their "reverence" for the ideas of Allee and Ritter, this is depicted in terms more mystical and intuitive than scientific. "It is a strange thing that most of the feeling we call religious," they note in one of the most compelling pa.s.sages in the book, "most of the mystical outcrying, which is one of the prized and used and desired reactions of our species, is really the understanding and the attempt to say that man is related to the whole thing, related inextricably to all reality, known and unknowable." The narrative as a whole is the record of scientific discovery intermingled with explorations into philosophy, "bright with sun and wet with sea water," and "the whole crusted over with exploring thought."

In "About Ed Ricketts," Steinbeck recalls that "very many conclusions Ed and I worked out together through endless discussion and reading and observation and experiment." They had a game, he notes, "which we playfully called speculative metaphysics. It was a sport of lopping off a piece of observed reality and letting it move up through the speculative process like a tree growing tall and bushy. We observed with pleasure how the branches of thought grew away from the trunk of external reality." Indeed, notes Steinbeck, "we worked together, and so closely that I do not now know in some cases who started which line of speculation since the end thought was the product of both minds. I do not know whose thought it was."

The Log from the Sea of Cortez is an exercise in speculative metaphysics, grounded in the factual record of the trip itself, though even here simple facts like dates get mixed up. Consider, for example, that chapter 24 records events that occurred on April 3. Chapter 25 continues the narrative but is dated April 22, and chapter 26 is dated April 5. And remember that the Sea of Cortez is an exercise in speculative metaphysics, grounded in the factual record of the trip itself, though even here simple facts like dates get mixed up. Consider, for example, that chapter 24 records events that occurred on April 3. Chapter 25 continues the narrative but is dated April 22, and chapter 26 is dated April 5. And remember that the Western Flyer Western Flyer returned to port on April 20. returned to port on April 20.

There are entire sections where the thinking of both men coincide, and it is difficult if not impossible to distinguish the authors.h.i.+p of ideas. Typical of these sections are those about the scientific method, about seeing life whole, and about how the mind of the observer inevitably colors what is observed. Both Ricketts and Steinbeck were avid enthusiasts of the work of John Elof Boodin, who wrote in Cosmic Evolution Cosmic Evolution (1925) that "the laws of thought are the laws of things" (the phrase is used verbatim in the Log), and that this law underpins the very notion of human creativity, since man and man alone can be a knower and can use his knowledge to understand the universe. (1925) that "the laws of thought are the laws of things" (the phrase is used verbatim in the Log), and that this law underpins the very notion of human creativity, since man and man alone can be a knower and can use his knowledge to understand the universe.

There are other sections of the Log, Log, however, where research into the composition of the narrative reveals single authors.h.i.+p. The complex and controversial chapter on what the authors call "non-teleological" thinking was written almost entirely by Ricketts a decade before however, where research into the composition of the narrative reveals single authors.h.i.+p. The complex and controversial chapter on what the authors call "non-teleological" thinking was written almost entirely by Ricketts a decade before Sea of Cortez Sea of Cortez was published. Steinbeck enlisted Paul de Kruif to help market it and two of Ricketts's other essays ("The Philosophy of Breaking Through" and "A Spiritual Morphology of Poetry") to the editors of was published. Steinbeck enlisted Paul de Kruif to help market it and two of Ricketts's other essays ("The Philosophy of Breaking Through" and "A Spiritual Morphology of Poetry") to the editors of Harpers, Harpers, but Ricketts's convoluted prose and his complicated thinking made this an exercise in futility. So, to provide a forum for Ricketts's ideas, and because he thought he could find a way to incorporate them into the Log that would be un.o.btrusive and consistent with the tone of the ma.n.u.script as a whole, Steinbeck included the twenty-page essay as "an Easter Sunday sermon." And there are other sections of the narrative, specifically those dealing with the patterns of tides and with something the authors call "sea-memory," that date back to a collecting trip Ricketts made with Jack Calvin and with the now-legendary comparative mythologist Joseph Campbell in the early 1930s. but Ricketts's convoluted prose and his complicated thinking made this an exercise in futility. So, to provide a forum for Ricketts's ideas, and because he thought he could find a way to incorporate them into the Log that would be un.o.btrusive and consistent with the tone of the ma.n.u.script as a whole, Steinbeck included the twenty-page essay as "an Easter Sunday sermon." And there are other sections of the narrative, specifically those dealing with the patterns of tides and with something the authors call "sea-memory," that date back to a collecting trip Ricketts made with Jack Calvin and with the now-legendary comparative mythologist Joseph Campbell in the early 1930s.

Most important, however, are those pa.s.sages of the Log in which Steinbeck and Ricketts work out their differences in their views of the world and man's role in it, for it is in these sections that we find clues to what is really going on in such important novels as In Dubious Battle and The Grapes of Wrath. In Dubious Battle and The Grapes of Wrath. There are those who believe that Steinbeck drew most if not all of his ideas from Ricketts. Indeed, Jack Calvin speaks for more than a few of Ricketts's friends when he suggests that "Ed was a reservoir for John to draw on ... in Ed he found an endless source of material-or call it inspiration if you like-and used it hungrily." The fact is, however, that the intellectual relations.h.i.+p between Steinbeck and Ricketts was a very complicated affair. They disagreed on matters of intellectual substance almost as often as they agreed. Those agreements and disagreements can be found in the There are those who believe that Steinbeck drew most if not all of his ideas from Ricketts. Indeed, Jack Calvin speaks for more than a few of Ricketts's friends when he suggests that "Ed was a reservoir for John to draw on ... in Ed he found an endless source of material-or call it inspiration if you like-and used it hungrily." The fact is, however, that the intellectual relations.h.i.+p between Steinbeck and Ricketts was a very complicated affair. They disagreed on matters of intellectual substance almost as often as they agreed. Those agreements and disagreements can be found in the Log, Log, and are worked out in fictional form in Steinbeck's most important novels. and are worked out in fictional form in Steinbeck's most important novels.

Though Ricketts read widely and was extraordinarily knowledgeable, his worldview was narrow in that it was essentially Eastern and mystical. Indeed, what he called nonteleological or "is" thinking is essentially noncausal thinking. His major thirst in life was to see and to understand, which he defined as "breaking through" (a phrase he found in Robinson Jeffers's "Roan Stallion" and quoted in his "Spiritual Morphology of Poetry") to an understanding of what he called "the deep thing," where we can see and know, quoting from William Blake's "Visions of the Daughters of Albion," that "all that lives is holy." For Ricketts, the objective was what he called "a creative synthesis," an "emergent viewpoint," where by living into the whole one can know "it's right, it's alright, the good, the bad, whatever is."

Ricketts's doctrine of "breaking through" is the cornerstone of his worldview. And certainly Steinbeck shared his friend's pa.s.sion for living deeply, seeing clearly, and viewing life whole. Steinbeck's work at Hopkins predisposed him to holistic thinking, which he embraced fully, and Blake's statement that "all that lives is holy" is quoted verbatim by Jim Casy in The Grapes of Wrath The Grapes of Wrath and is the basis for collective action by the Joad family as they move from the "I" to the "we" and become leaders of a movement to empower the lonely and displaced tenant farmers. But for Steinbeck, simply understanding the deep thing, the fundamental unity of life, is essentially a monistic approach that ignores common human needs and so is socially flawed. From Ricketts, Steinbeck learned to see life in scientific terms. His own reading of Ritter, and years of conversations with Ricketts, helped him see life in largely biological terms. Perhaps that is why so many of his most memorable characters are animal-like in thought and action. Tularecito in The Pastures and is the basis for collective action by the Joad family as they move from the "I" to the "we" and become leaders of a movement to empower the lonely and displaced tenant farmers. But for Steinbeck, simply understanding the deep thing, the fundamental unity of life, is essentially a monistic approach that ignores common human needs and so is socially flawed. From Ricketts, Steinbeck learned to see life in scientific terms. His own reading of Ritter, and years of conversations with Ricketts, helped him see life in largely biological terms. Perhaps that is why so many of his most memorable characters are animal-like in thought and action. Tularecito in The Pastures of Heaven, of Heaven, Noah Joad in Noah Joad in The Grapes of Wrath, The Grapes of Wrath, a.s.sorted denizens of Cannery Row and Tortilla Flat, and, most significantly, Lennie Small in Of a.s.sorted denizens of Cannery Row and Tortilla Flat, and, most significantly, Lennie Small in Of Mice and Men, Mice and Men, have more in common with what Ricketts called "the good, kind sane little animals" of the intertidal than with physicians or philosophers. But while Steinbeck understood and was sensitive to human weakness, and while he sometimes envied the simple Indians of the Gulf of California-who, as he notes in the have more in common with what Ricketts called "the good, kind sane little animals" of the intertidal than with physicians or philosophers. But while Steinbeck understood and was sensitive to human weakness, and while he sometimes envied the simple Indians of the Gulf of California-who, as he notes in the Log, Log, may one day have a legend about their northern neighbors, that "great and G.o.dlike race that flew away in four-motored bombers to the accompaniment of exploding bombs, the voice of G.o.d calling them home"-he was not content to view the world with what he identified as simple "understanding-acceptance." Rather, for Steinbeck, man is a creature of earth, not a heaven-bound pilgrim, and the writer's most memorable characters are those who see life whole, and then act on the basis of that understanding, to "break through" to useful and purposeful social action. may one day have a legend about their northern neighbors, that "great and G.o.dlike race that flew away in four-motored bombers to the accompaniment of exploding bombs, the voice of G.o.d calling them home"-he was not content to view the world with what he identified as simple "understanding-acceptance." Rather, for Steinbeck, man is a creature of earth, not a heaven-bound pilgrim, and the writer's most memorable characters are those who see life whole, and then act on the basis of that understanding, to "break through" to useful and purposeful social action.

The clearest picture of the differences between Steinbeck and Ricketts regarding the proper course of human action for those who can "break through" can be drawn from a short film script Steinbeck wrote during the composition of Sea of Cortez, Sea of Cortez, and an essay Ricketts wrote in response. Steinbeck returned to Mexico for a short time during the summer of 1940 with filmmaker Herb Klein to make a study of disease in an isolated village; this study was made into a well-received doc.u.mentary ent.i.tled and an essay Ricketts wrote in response. Steinbeck returned to Mexico for a short time during the summer of 1940 with filmmaker Herb Klein to make a study of disease in an isolated village; this study was made into a well-received doc.u.mentary ent.i.tled The Forgotten Village. The Forgotten Village. The script focuses on the initiative of a young boy, Juan Diego, who is outraged because a deadly microbial virus, which has polluted the village's water supply and has killed his brother and made his sister seriously ill, is being treated by witch doctors when real medical help is nearby. Juan Diego leaves the village to find the doctors of the Rural Health Service, who return with him to cure the problem. Noting that "changes in people are never quick," Steinbeck prophesies that, because of the Juan Diegos of Mexico, "the change will come, is coming; the long climb out of darkness. Already the people are learning, changing their lives, working, living in new ways." The script focuses on the initiative of a young boy, Juan Diego, who is outraged because a deadly microbial virus, which has polluted the village's water supply and has killed his brother and made his sister seriously ill, is being treated by witch doctors when real medical help is nearby. Juan Diego leaves the village to find the doctors of the Rural Health Service, who return with him to cure the problem. Noting that "changes in people are never quick," Steinbeck prophesies that, because of the Juan Diegos of Mexico, "the change will come, is coming; the long climb out of darkness. Already the people are learning, changing their lives, working, living in new ways."

After reading Steinbeck's text, Ricketts wrote an essay he called his "Thesis and Materials for a Script on Mexico"-actually an antiscript to Steinbeck's. In it, Ricketts noted that "the chief character in John's script is the Indian boy who becomes so imbued with the spirit of modern medical progress that he leaves the traditional way of his people to a.s.sociate himself with the new thing."

The working out of a script for the "other side" might correspondingly be achieved through the figure of some wise and mellow old man, who has long ago developed beyond the expediencies of economic drives and power drives, and to whom for guidance in adolescent troubles some grandchild comes.... A wise old man, present during the time of building a high speed road through a primitive community, appropriately might point out the evils of the encroaching mechanistic civilization to a young person.

In his best fiction, Steinbeck worked out the conflict between primitivism and progress, between his own view of the world and that of Ricketts-both of which were based, of course, on a scientific view of life organized around the concept of wholeness which is as spiritual as it is biological. And the Ed Ricketts characters in Steinbeck's fiction (they are several and are usually named "Doc") are those who are somehow cut off. They see and understand, but they cannot act on the basis of that understanding for the betterment of the species. Doc Burton in In Dubious Battle sees In Dubious Battle sees and understands the plight of the striking apple pickers in the Tor-gas Valley, but he wanders off into the night, frustrated by his inability to act on their behalf. He is "reincarnated" as Jim Casy in and understands the plight of the striking apple pickers in the Tor-gas Valley, but he wanders off into the night, frustrated by his inability to act on their behalf. He is "reincarnated" as Jim Casy in The Grapes of Wrath, The Grapes of Wrath, who returns as Christ from the wilderness, and, seeing life whole, realizing that "all that lives is holy," gives his life to aid the dispossessed and disinherited. And there is Doc in who returns as Christ from the wilderness, and, seeing life whole, realizing that "all that lives is holy," gives his life to aid the dispossessed and disinherited. And there is Doc in Cannery Row, Cannery Row, who wants only to "savor the hot taste of life," even as the Row itself (which for Doc and his friends is "a poem, a stink, a grating noise, a quality of light, a tone, a habit, a nostalgia, a dream") is really an island surrounded by an encroaching society which will ultimately destroy it. Little wonder the book is dedicated "to Ed Ricketts, who knows why or should." And there is its sequel, who wants only to "savor the hot taste of life," even as the Row itself (which for Doc and his friends is "a poem, a stink, a grating noise, a quality of light, a tone, a habit, a nostalgia, a dream") is really an island surrounded by an encroaching society which will ultimately destroy it. Little wonder the book is dedicated "to Ed Ricketts, who knows why or should." And there is its sequel, Sweet Thursday, Sweet Thursday, where the Ricketts character seems even more isolated in a book which is less sweet than bittersweet. And finally there is that strange play-novelette, where the Ricketts character seems even more isolated in a book which is less sweet than bittersweet. And finally there is that strange play-novelette, Burning Bright, Burning Bright, in which the Ricketts character (named Friend Ed) teaches the Steinbeck character (Joe Saul) how to see and understand things whole and then how to receive (a trait which, in "About Ed Ricketts," Steinbeck identified as among Ricketts's greatest talents). in which the Ricketts character (named Friend Ed) teaches the Steinbeck character (Joe Saul) how to see and understand things whole and then how to receive (a trait which, in "About Ed Ricketts," Steinbeck identified as among Ricketts's greatest talents).

In the Log, Steinbeck writes a pa.s.sage which could easily have been taken from the work of William Emerson Ritter (it appears nowhere in Ricketts's notes on the trip), in which he reflects that "there are colonies of pelagic tunicates which have a shape like the finger of a glove." Steinbeck remarks that "each member of the colony is an individual, but the colony is another individual animal, not at all like the sum of its individuals." And, says Steinbeck, "I am much more than the sum of my cells and, for all I know, they are much more than the division of me." There is "no quietism in such acceptance," notes the novelist, "but rather the basis for a far deeper understanding of us and our world." This is Ritter's organismal conception, which Steinbeck learned at Hopkins and discussed for so many years with Ricketts. At the core of the argument is the premise that, since given properties of parts are determined by or explained in terms of the whole, the whole is directive, is capable of directing the parts. In other words, the whole acts as a causal unit-on its own parts. As stated above, W. C. Allee's doctrine of social cooperation among animals was unconscious and involuntary; the process of cooperation was automatic. What appealed to Allee and to Ricketts was that this concept offered them an approach to reality that enabled them to break through to a view of the total picture. But seeing and understanding the whole picture, what Jim Casy calls "the whole shebang," and acting on the basis of that understanding, are two different things. Sea of Cortez Sea of Cortez enables us to see Ricketts and Steinbeck searching for and finding whole pictures. Steinbeck's novels and Ricketts's more recently published essays and articles provide us with a deeper understanding of the similarities and differences in their respective worldviews. enables us to see Ricketts and Steinbeck searching for and finding whole pictures. Steinbeck's novels and Ricketts's more recently published essays and articles provide us with a deeper understanding of the similarities and differences in their respective worldviews.

We read Sea of Cortez Sea of Cortez for its own sake as a first-rate work of travel literature. We read it also to understand the range and depth of Ricketts's impact on Steinbeck's fiction. And this permits us to see Steinbeck's fictional accomplishments in a new and fresh light. In so doing, we see not just the absurdity of arguments raised by those who attacked this or that Steinbeck novel on the basis of his alleged belief in any particular political ideology. We see also that his thinking is not worn and obsolete, but is as current as the modern environmental movement, which it predates and with which it has so much in common. If we read and consider for its own sake as a first-rate work of travel literature. We read it also to understand the range and depth of Ricketts's impact on Steinbeck's fiction. And this permits us to see Steinbeck's fictional accomplishments in a new and fresh light. In so doing, we see not just the absurdity of arguments raised by those who attacked this or that Steinbeck novel on the basis of his alleged belief in any particular political ideology. We see also that his thinking is not worn and obsolete, but is as current as the modern environmental movement, which it predates and with which it has so much in common. If we read and consider Sea of Cortez Sea of Cortez in all its complexity, we see John Steinbeck fusing science and philosophy, art and ethics by combining the compelling if complex metaphysics of Ed Ricketts with his own commitment to social action by a species for whom he never gave up hope, and whom he believed could and would triumph over the tragic miracle of its own consciousness. in all its complexity, we see John Steinbeck fusing science and philosophy, art and ethics by combining the compelling if complex metaphysics of Ed Ricketts with his own commitment to social action by a species for whom he never gave up hope, and whom he believed could and would triumph over the tragic miracle of its own consciousness.

SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER READING.

Allee, W. C. Animal Aggregations. Animal Aggregations. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1931. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1931.

Astro, Richard. John Steinbeck and Edward F. Ricketts: The Shaping of a John Steinbeck and Edward F. Ricketts: The Shaping of a Novelist. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1973. Novelist. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1973.

--. Edward F. Ricketts. Edward F. Ricketts. Western Writers Series. Boise, Ida.: Boise State University Press, 1976. Western Writers Series. Boise, Ida.: Boise State University Press, 1976.

Benson, Jackson J. The True Adventures of John Steinbeck. The True Adventures of John Steinbeck. New York: Viking Press, 1984. New York: Viking Press, 1984.

Boodin, John Elof. Cosmic Evolution. Cosmic Evolution. New York: Macmillan Press, 1925. Fadiman, Clifton. "Of Crabs and Men," New York: Macmillan Press, 1925. Fadiman, Clifton. "Of Crabs and Men," New Yorker, New Yorker, December 6, 1941, 107. December 6, 1941, 107.

Fontenrose, Joseph. John Steinbeck: An Introduction and Interpretation. John Steinbeck: An Introduction and Interpretation. New York: Barnes and n.o.ble, 1964. New York: Barnes and n.o.ble, 1964.

Hedgpeth, Joel W. "Philosophy on Cannery Row." In Steinbeck: The Man and His Steinbeck: The Man and His Work. Edited by Richard Astro and Tetsumaro Hayas.h.i.+. Corvallis: Oregon State University Press, 1971. Work. Edited by Richard Astro and Tetsumaro Hayas.h.i.+. Corvallis: Oregon State University Press, 1971.

Knox, Maxine, and Mary Rodriguez. Steinbeck's Street: Cannery Row. Steinbeck's Street: Cannery Row. San Rafael, Calif.: Presidio Press, 1980. San Rafael, Calif.: Presidio Press, 1980.

Lisca, Peter. The Wide World of John Steinbeck. The Wide World of John Steinbeck. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 1958. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 1958.

Lyman, John. "Of and About the Sea," American Neptune, April 1942, 183.

Mangelsdorf, Tom. A History of Steinbeck's Cannery Row. A History of Steinbeck's Cannery Row. Santa Cruz, Calif.: Western Tanager Press, 1986. Santa Cruz, Calif.: Western Tanager Press, 1986.

Person, Richard. History of Monterey. History of Monterey. Monterey, Calif.: City of Monterey, 1972. Monterey, Calif.: City of Monterey, 1972.

Ricketts, Edward F., and Jack Calvin. Between Pacific Tides. Between Pacific Tides. 3d ed. Foreword by John Steinbeck. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1952. 3d ed. Foreword by John Steinbeck. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1952.

--. The Outer Sh.o.r.es. The Outer Sh.o.r.es. 2 vols. Edited by Joel W. Hedgpeth. Eureka, Calif.: Mad River Press, 1978. 2 vols. Edited by Joel W. Hedgpeth. Eureka, Calif.: Mad River Press, 1978.

--. "The Philosophy of Breaking Through." Unpublished MS, 1933.

--. "A Spiritual Morphology of Poetry." Unpublished MS, 1933.

--. "Thesis and Materials for a Script on Mexico." Unpublished MS, 1940.

Ritter, William Emerson. The Unity of the Organism, or the Organismal Conception. The Unity of the Organism, or the Organismal Conception. 2 vols. Boston: Gorham Press, 1919. 2 vols. Boston: Gorham Press, 1919.

--and Edna W. Bailey. The Organismal Conception: Its Place in Science and Its Bearing on Philosophy. The Organismal Conception: Its Place in Science and Its Bearing on Philosophy. Berkeley: University of California Publications in Zoology, 1931. Berkeley: University of California Publications in Zoology, 1931.

Steinbeck, Elaine, and Robert Walsten, eds. Steinbeck: A Life in Letters. Steinbeck: A Life in Letters. New York: Viking Press, 1975. New York: Viking Press, 1975.

Steinbeck, John. Cannery Row. Cannery Row. New York: Viking Press, 1945. New York: Viking Press, 1945.

--. The Forgotten Village. The Forgotten Village. New York. Viking Press, 1941. New York. Viking Press, 1941.

--. The Grapes of Wrath. The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Viking Press, 1939. New York: Viking Press, 1939.

A NOTE ON THE TEXT.

The history of the publication of Sea of Cortez Sea of Cortez is interesting and chiefly involves the issue of jo