See if there more book fans here than at MLS.
John Stienbeck (sp) ?
Yep, thanks Randy. You got it in one try 
Steinbeck is the correct spelling I believe.
Another great figure Richard.
For the illiterate among us (like me who had to Google the name), here is a brief resume…
John Ernst Steinbeck, Jr.(February 27, 1902 – December 20, 1968) was an American writer. He wrote the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Grapes of Wrath (1939) and East of Eden (1952) and the novella Of Mice and Men (1937). He wrote a total of twenty-seven books, including sixteen novels, six non-fiction books and five collections of short stories. In 1962, Steinbeck received the Nobel Prize for Literature.