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John Steinbeck in the 21st century

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Jochen Fromm-5

John Steinbeck in the 21st century

I recently stumbled upon John Steinbeck's classic novel "The Grapes of Wrath" and wonder if it is similar to the situation today. You will all know it since it is often read in High Schools, right? (I had to read Goethe in School. And "Animal Farm" plus "To kill a Mocking Bird" in the English class).

As you know Steinbeck describes how migrants from Oklahoma called Okies look for a better life in California. They travel along the Route 66, which Steinbeck helped to make popular, passed Albuquerque and Santa Fe, and drove to the West until they arrived in California where the locals disliked and rejected them.

https://www.nationalgeographic.org/news/grapes-wrath

Today we have migrants from Cuba and Mexico looking for a better life in the US and refugees from Syria and Afghanistan who cause a lot of trouble in the EU. Many of these refugees and migrants live in camps, just like the ones Steinbeck visited.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2002/feb/02/johnsteinbeck.socialsciences

Steinbeck's novel takes place during the "Dust Bowl". Today the dry regions in the South suffer from droughts and wild fires caused by Climate Change worldwide. Everything sounds similar, as if history is repeating itself.

https://www.history.com/news/10-things-you-may-not-know-about-the-dust-bowl

-J.

============================================================
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Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
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Marcus G. Daniels

Re: John Steinbeck in the 21st century

HBO new take on The Watchmen seems like a pretty good take (extrapolation) on conflict in the United States today.

From: Friam <[hidden email]> on behalf of Jochen Fromm <[hidden email]>
Reply-To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group <[hidden email]>
Date: Wednesday, October 23, 2019 at 2:39 PM
To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group <[hidden email]>
Subject: [FRIAM] John Steinbeck in the 21st century

https://www.nationalgeographic.org/news/grapes-wrath

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2002/feb/02/johnsteinbeck.socialsciences

https://www.history.com/news/10-things-you-may-not-know-about-the-dust-bowl

-J.

Steve Smith

Re: John Steinbeck in the 21st century

I did watch the first episode (Watchmen) and it tweaked my morbid fascination (where is the boundary with cynical obsession)... it was very well done, and in fact I watched it a second time to pick up a good dozen more tiny clues to the alternate sheaf in the multiverse.

I did my time as a Comic Book fiend (albeit with very limited geographic and financial access) in the 60s but this strand of the DC multiverse was not familiar to me until the movie came out a few years ago. The gritty "hardboiled" undertones are easy for me to get seduced by and I've long been a lay-student of the techniques used in graphic novels (presaged by serial comics).

This morning I noticed in my news feed the new "threat" of a primarily Chinese-owned company/app called Tik-Tok... way to eerily close to the subtheme in the watchmen as voiced by Don John'son's character at the end of the first episode.. (Tik Tok, Tik Tok)

On 10/23/19 3:41 PM, Marcus Daniels wrote:

HBO new take on The Watchmen seems like a pretty good take (extrapolation) on conflict in the United States today.

From: Friam [hidden email] on behalf of Jochen Fromm [hidden email]
Reply-To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group [hidden email]
Date: Wednesday, October 23, 2019 at 2:39 PM
To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group [hidden email]
Subject: [FRIAM] John Steinbeck in the 21st century

I recently stumbled upon John Steinbeck's classic novel "The Grapes of Wrath" and wonder if it is similar to the situation today. You will all know it since it is often read in High Schools, right? (I had to read Goethe in School. And "Animal Farm" plus "To kill a Mocking Bird" in the English class).

As you know Steinbeck describes how migrants from Oklahoma called Okies look for a better life in California. They travel along the Route 66, which Steinbeck helped to make popular, passed Albuquerque and Santa Fe, and drove to the West until they arrived in California where the locals disliked and rejected them.

https://www.nationalgeographic.org/news/grapes-wrath

Today we have migrants from Cuba and Mexico looking for a better life in the US and refugees from Syria and Afghanistan who cause a lot of trouble in the EU. Many of these refugees and migrants live in camps, just like the ones Steinbeck visited.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2002/feb/02/johnsteinbeck.socialsciences

Steinbeck's novel takes place during the "Dust Bowl". Today the dry regions in the South suffer from droughts and wild fires caused by Climate Change worldwide. Everything sounds similar, as if history is repeating itself.

https://www.history.com/news/10-things-you-may-not-know-about-the-dust-bowl

-J.
============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
archives back to 2003: http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/
FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove

Steve Smith

Re: John Steinbeck in the 21st century

In reply to this post by Jochen Fromm-5

Jochen -

It is interesting that you would have read "Mockingbird" and "Animal Farm" in school... do you mind sharing when/where that was?

This probably qualifies as a threadbender, but your reference to Steinbeck and implications for the 21st century struck me. On a recent pleasure/work trip I *re*visited Monterrey CA and Cannery Row which lead me to *re*read Steinbeck's Cannery Row which lead me to read something of a biography of the Doc character in his novel (and the movie) for whom the prototype was Ed Ricketts.

Beyond the Outer Shores was written roughly 15 years ago, recounting Ricketts' life and career. I knew that Steinbeck was a good friend of Ricketts but I was not aware of how much work they did together, including a summer of kayaking in the Sea of Cortez which yielded the data for the book they co-authored by the name "Sea of Cortez". I was also unaware that Joseph Campbell spent his formative (adult) years in the company of both of these mens (and more to the point, Ricketts). The author of this biography credits Ricketts as being highly influential in the work of both Steinbeck (beyond Cannery Row) and Campbell, and credits him with leading the transition from traditional biology focused on taxonomic approaches to identification of collected specimens. Ricketts approached collecting and identifying (mostly marine) species as well as writing them up in his famous trilogy on the topic in the context of a newly emergent field of "ecology". He was simultaneously under-appreciated due to his lack of formal education, his lack of academic affiliation whilst also being a highly prolific commercial collector/supplier of specimens to the same community while identifying a huge number of new species (perhaps only recognizing the subtle differences based on habitat and foodweb relations) within his purview (the range of the Pacific coast along the North American coast from Bering Sea to Panama).

Unbending the thread a *tad*, I don't know if there were earlier precedents (there had to be?) for the collision of the consequences of human's voracious activity with climate patterns, before the Dust Bowl (Jared Diamond's "Collapse!" offers a few candidates). Steinbeck's portrayal of these times and the humanity of the most basic of the humans impacted (Grapes, Cannery, Mice&Men....) provides both a cautionary tale and perhaps a hopeful review of the resilience of humans when faced with less than pleasant choices. Of course, the way the "Okies" were treated is not unlike how most climate/war/economic refugees are treated today, and perhaps for most of the same reasons.

I was first made pointedly aware when I saw Sebastiano Salgado's *lifetime* collection of photographs of global refugees in a collection titled "Migrants" and was made aware that even at that time (20 years ago?) there were already refugee communities where children were born and raised in that context... just one step above (most of the time) being held in formal incarceration.

On 10/23/19 3:39 PM, Jochen Fromm wrote:

I recently stumbled upon John Steinbeck's classic novel "The Grapes of Wrath" and wonder if it is similar to the situation today. You will all know it since it is often read in High Schools, right? (I had to read Goethe in School. And "Animal Farm" plus "To kill a Mocking Bird" in the English class).

As you know Steinbeck describes how migrants from Oklahoma called Okies look for a better life in California. They travel along the Route 66, which Steinbeck helped to make popular, passed Albuquerque and Santa Fe, and drove to the West until they arrived in California where the locals disliked and rejected them.

https://www.nationalgeographic.org/news/grapes-wrath

Today we have migrants from Cuba and Mexico looking for a better life in the US and refugees from Syria and Afghanistan who cause a lot of trouble in the EU. Many of these refugees and migrants live in camps, just like the ones Steinbeck visited.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2002/feb/02/johnsteinbeck.socialsciences

Steinbeck's novel takes place during the "Dust Bowl". Today the dry regions in the South suffer from droughts and wild fires caused by Climate Change worldwide. Everything sounds similar, as if history is repeating itself.

https://www.history.com/news/10-things-you-may-not-know-about-the-dust-bowl

-J.
============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
archives back to 2003: http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/
FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove

Jochen Fromm-5

Re: John Steinbeck in the 21st century

I've read Cannery Row and liked it. I like the books from Steinbeck in general. What is the name of the biography from the Doc? "Beyond the Outer Shores" ? Is it recommendable?

-Jochen

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.

-------- Original message --------

From: Steven A Smith <[hidden email]>

Date: 10/25/19 16:53 (GMT+01:00)

To: [hidden email]

Subject: Re: [FRIAM] John Steinbeck in the 21st century

...On a recent pleasure/work trip I *re*visited Monterrey CA and Cannery Row which lead me to *re*read Steinbeck's Cannery Row which lead me to read something of a biography of the Doc character in his novel (and the movie) for whom the prototype was Ed Ricketts...

On 10/23/19 3:39 PM, Jochen Fromm wrote:

I recently stumbled upon John Steinbeck's classic novel "The Grapes of Wrath" and wonder if it is similar to the situation today. You will all know it since it is often read in High Schools, right? (I had to read Goethe in School. And "Animal Farm" plus "To kill a Mocking Bird" in the English class).

As you know Steinbeck describes how migrants from Oklahoma called Okies look for a better life in California. They travel along the Route 66, which Steinbeck helped to make popular, passed Albuquerque and Santa Fe, and drove to the West until they arrived in California where the locals disliked and rejected them.

https://www.nationalgeographic.org/news/grapes-wrath

Today we have migrants from Cuba and Mexico looking for a better life in the US and refugees from Syria and Afghanistan who cause a lot of trouble in the EU. Many of these refugees and migrants live in camps, just like the ones Steinbeck visited.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2002/feb/02/johnsteinbeck.socialsciences

Steinbeck's novel takes place during the "Dust Bowl". Today the dry regions in the South suffer from droughts and wild fires caused by Climate Change worldwide. Everything sounds similar, as if history is repeating itself.

https://www.history.com/news/10-things-you-may-not-know-about-the-dust-bowl

-J.
============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
archives back to 2003: http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/
FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove

Steve Smith

Re: John Steinbeck in the 21st century

In reply to this post by Jochen Fromm-5

On 10/25/19 1:21 PM, Jochen Fromm wrote:

I've read Cannery Row and liked it. I like the books from Steinbeck in general. What is the name of the biography from the Doc? "Beyond the Outer Shores" ? Is it recommendable?

Very...

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/401670.Beyond_the_Outer_Shores

-Jochen

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.

-------- Original message --------

From: Steven A Smith [hidden email]

Date: 10/25/19 16:53 (GMT+01:00)

To: [hidden email]

Subject: Re: [FRIAM] John Steinbeck in the 21st century

...On a recent pleasure/work trip I *re*visited Monterrey CA and Cannery Row which lead me to *re*read Steinbeck's Cannery Row which lead me to read something of a biography of the Doc character in his novel (and the movie) for whom the prototype was Ed Ricketts...

Beyond the Outer Shores was written roughly 15 years ago, recounting Ricketts' life and career. I knew that Steinbeck was a good friend of Ricketts but I was not aware of how much work they did together, including a summer of kayaking in the Sea of Cortez which yielded the data for the book they co-authored by the name "Sea of Cortez". I was also unaware that Joseph Campbell spent his formative (adult) years in the company of both of these mens (and more to the point, Ricketts). The author of this biography credits Ricketts as being highly influential in the work of both Steinbeck (beyond Cannery Row) and Campbell, and credits him with leading the transition from traditional biology focused on taxonomic approaches to identification of collected specimens. Ricketts approached collecting and identifying (mostly marine) species as well as writing them up in his famous trilogy on the topic in the context of a newly emergent field of "ecology". He was simultaneously under-appreciated due to his lack of formal education, his lack of academic affiliation whilst also being a highly prolific commercial collector/supplier of specimens to the same community while identifying a huge number of new species (perhaps only recognizing the subtle differences based on habitat and foodweb relations) within his purview (the range of the Pacific coast along the North American coast from Bering Sea to Panama).

On 10/23/19 3:39 PM, Jochen Fromm wrote:
I recently stumbled upon John Steinbeck's classic novel "The Grapes of Wrath" and wonder if it is similar to the situation today. You will all know it since it is often read in High Schools, right? (I had to read Goethe in School. And "Animal Farm" plus "To kill a Mocking Bird" in the English class).

As you know Steinbeck describes how migrants from Oklahoma called Okies look for a better life in California. They travel along the Route 66, which Steinbeck helped to make popular, passed Albuquerque and Santa Fe, and drove to the West until they arrived in California where the locals disliked and rejected them.

https://www.nationalgeographic.org/news/grapes-wrath

Today we have migrants from Cuba and Mexico looking for a better life in the US and refugees from Syria and Afghanistan who cause a lot of trouble in the EU. Many of these refugees and migrants live in camps, just like the ones Steinbeck visited.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2002/feb/02/johnsteinbeck.socialsciences

Steinbeck's novel takes place during the "Dust Bowl". Today the dry regions in the South suffer from droughts and wild fires caused by Climate Change worldwide. Everything sounds similar, as if history is repeating itself.

https://www.history.com/news/10-things-you-may-not-know-about-the-dust-bowl

-J.
============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
archives back to 2003: http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/
FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove
============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
archives back to 2003: http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/
FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove

Nick Thompson

Re: John Steinbeck in the 21st century

Steinbeckers –

Does anybody else remember that one-page chapter about the tortoise on 66 in Grapes of Wrath?

It is such a metaphor for everything.

Nick

Nicholas S. Thompson

Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Biology

Clark University

http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/

From: Friam [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Steven A Smith
Sent: Friday, October 25, 2019 7:00 PM
To: [hidden email]
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] John Steinbeck in the 21st century

On 10/25/19 1:21 PM, Jochen Fromm wrote:

I've read Cannery Row and liked it. I like the books from Steinbeck in general. What is the name of the biography from the Doc? "Beyond the Outer Shores" ? Is it recommendable?

Very...

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/401670.Beyond_the_Outer_Shores

-Jochen

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.

-------- Original message --------
From: Steven A Smith [hidden email]
Date: 10/25/19 16:53 (GMT+01:00)
To: [hidden email]
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] John Steinbeck in the 21st century

...On a recent pleasure/work trip I *re*visited Monterrey CA and Cannery Row which lead me to *re*read Steinbeck's Cannery Row which lead me to read something of a biography of the Doc character in his novel (and the movie) for whom the prototype was Ed Ricketts...
Beyond the Outer Shores was written roughly 15 years ago, recounting Ricketts' life and career. I knew that Steinbeck was a good friend of Ricketts but I was not aware of how much work they did together, including a summer of kayaking in the Sea of Cortez which yielded the data for the book they co-authored by the name "Sea of Cortez". I was also unaware that Joseph Campbell spent his formative (adult) years in the company of both of these mens (and more to the point, Ricketts). The author of this biography credits Ricketts as being highly influential in the work of both Steinbeck (beyond Cannery Row) and Campbell, and credits him with leading the transition from traditional biology focused on taxonomic approaches to identification of collected specimens. Ricketts approached collecting and identifying (mostly marine) species as well as writing them up in his famous trilogy on the topic in the context of a newly emergent field of "ecology". He was simultaneously under-appreciated due to his lack of formal education, his lack of academic affiliation whilst also being a highly prolific commercial collector/supplier of specimens to the same community while identifying a huge number of new species (perhaps only recognizing the subtle differences based on habitat and foodweb relations) within his purview (the range of the Pacific coast along the North American coast from Bering Sea to Panama).
On 10/23/19 3:39 PM, Jochen Fromm wrote:
I recently stumbled upon John Steinbeck's classic novel "The Grapes of Wrath" and wonder if it is similar to the situation today. You will all know it since it is often read in High Schools, right? (I had to read Goethe in School. And "Animal Farm" plus "To kill a Mocking Bird" in the English class).

As you know Steinbeck describes how migrants from Oklahoma called Okies look for a better life in California. They travel along the Route 66, which Steinbeck helped to make popular, passed Albuquerque and Santa Fe, and drove to the West until they arrived in California where the locals disliked and rejected them.
https://www.nationalgeographic.org/news/grapes-wrath

Today we have migrants from Cuba and Mexico looking for a better life in the US and refugees from Syria and Afghanistan who cause a lot of trouble in the EU. Many of these refugees and migrants live in camps, just like the ones Steinbeck visited.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2002/feb/02/johnsteinbeck.socialsciences

Steinbeck's novel takes place during the "Dust Bowl". Today the dry regions in the South suffer from droughts and wild fires caused by Climate Change worldwide. Everything sounds similar, as if history is repeating itself.
https://www.history.com/news/10-things-you-may-not-know-about-the-dust-bowl

-J.
============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
archives back to 2003: http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/
FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove
============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
archives back to 2003: http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/
FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove

Jochen Fromm-5

Re: John Steinbeck in the 21st century

The turtle chapter 3 is rather weak. I like for example the beginning for chapter 5 where Steinbeck describes the land owners in Oklahoma:

"Some of the owner men were kind because they hated what they had to do, and some of them were angry because they hated to be cruel, and some of them were cold because they had long ago found that one could not be an owner unless one were cold. And all of them were caught in something larger than themselves."

Or a bit later where he describes the banks that many of the land owners work for:

"The bank is something else than men. It happens that every man in a bank hates what the bank does, and yet the bank does it. The bank is something more than men, I tell you. It’s the monster. Men made it, but they can’t control it."

-J.

-------- Original message --------

From: Nick Thompson <[hidden email]>

Date: 10/26/19 17:54 (GMT+01:00)

To: 'The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group' <[hidden email]>

Subject: Re: [FRIAM] John Steinbeck in the 21st century

Steinbeckers –

Does anybody else remember that one-page chapter about the tortoise on 66 in Grapes of Wrath?

It is such a metaphor for everything.

Nick

Nicholas S. Thompson

Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Biology

Clark University

http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/

From: Friam [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Steven A Smith
Sent: Friday, October 25, 2019 7:00 PM
To: [hidden email]
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] John Steinbeck in the 21st century

On 10/25/19 1:21 PM, Jochen Fromm wrote:

I've read Cannery Row and liked it. I like the books from Steinbeck in general. What is the name of the biography from the Doc? "Beyond the Outer Shores" ? Is it recommendable?

Very...

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/401670.Beyond_the_Outer_Shores

-Jochen

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.

-------- Original message --------
From: Steven A Smith [hidden email]
Date: 10/25/19 16:53 (GMT+01:00)
To: [hidden email]
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] John Steinbeck in the 21st century

...On a recent pleasure/work trip I *re*visited Monterrey CA and Cannery Row which lead me to *re*read Steinbeck's Cannery Row which lead me to read something of a biography of the Doc character in his novel (and the movie) for whom the prototype was Ed Ricketts...
Beyond the Outer Shores was written roughly 15 years ago, recounting Ricketts' life and career. I knew that Steinbeck was a good friend of Ricketts but I was not aware of how much work they did together, including a summer of kayaking in the Sea of Cortez which yielded the data for the book they co-authored by the name "Sea of Cortez". I was also unaware that Joseph Campbell spent his formative (adult) years in the company of both of these mens (and more to the point, Ricketts). The author of this biography credits Ricketts as being highly influential in the work of both Steinbeck (beyond Cannery Row) and Campbell, and credits him with leading the transition from traditional biology focused on taxonomic approaches to identification of collected specimens. Ricketts approached collecting and identifying (mostly marine) species as well as writing them up in his famous trilogy on the topic in the context of a newly emergent field of "ecology". He was simultaneously under-appreciated due to his lack of formal education, his lack of academic affiliation whilst also being a highly prolific commercial collector/supplier of specimens to the same community while identifying a huge number of new species (perhaps only recognizing the subtle differences based on habitat and foodweb relations) within his purview (the range of the Pacific coast along the North American coast from Bering Sea to Panama).
On 10/23/19 3:39 PM, Jochen Fromm wrote:
I recently stumbled upon John Steinbeck's classic novel "The Grapes of Wrath" and wonder if it is similar to the situation today. You will all know it since it is often read in High Schools, right? (I had to read Goethe in School. And "Animal Farm" plus "To kill a Mocking Bird" in the English class).

As you know Steinbeck describes how migrants from Oklahoma called Okies look for a better life in California. They travel along the Route 66, which Steinbeck helped to make popular, passed Albuquerque and Santa Fe, and drove to the West until they arrived in California where the locals disliked and rejected them.
https://www.nationalgeographic.org/news/grapes-wrath

Today we have migrants from Cuba and Mexico looking for a better life in the US and refugees from Syria and Afghanistan who cause a lot of trouble in the EU. Many of these refugees and migrants live in camps, just like the ones Steinbeck visited.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2002/feb/02/johnsteinbeck.socialsciences

Steinbeck's novel takes place during the "Dust Bowl". Today the dry regions in the South suffer from droughts and wild fires caused by Climate Change worldwide. Everything sounds similar, as if history is repeating itself.
https://www.history.com/news/10-things-you-may-not-know-about-the-dust-bowl

-J.
============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
archives back to 2003: http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/
FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove
============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
archives back to 2003: http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/
FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove

Nick Thompson

Re: John Steinbeck in the 21st century

In reply to this post by Nick Thompson

Jochen,

“WEAK”!!!!!!!!??????????

Suh! Pistols at Dawn!

Nicholas S. Thompson

Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Biology

Clark University

http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/

From: Friam [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Jochen Fromm
Sent: Sunday, October 27, 2019 4:19 AM
To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group <[hidden email]>
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] John Steinbeck in the 21st century

The turtle chapter 3 is rather weak. I like for example the beginning for chapter 5 where Steinbeck describes the land owners in Oklahoma:

Or a bit later where he describes the banks that many of the land owners work for:

-J.

-------- Original message --------

From: Nick Thompson <[hidden email]>

Date: 10/26/19 17:54 (GMT+01:00)

To: 'The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group' <[hidden email]>

Subject: Re: [FRIAM] John Steinbeck in the 21st century

Steinbeckers –

Does anybody else remember that one-page chapter about the tortoise on 66 in Grapes of Wrath?

It is such a metaphor for everything.

Nick

Nicholas S. Thompson

Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Biology

Clark University

http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/

From: Friam [[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Steven A Smith
Sent: Friday, October 25, 2019 7:00 PM
To: [hidden email]
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] John Steinbeck in the 21st century

On 10/25/19 1:21 PM, Jochen Fromm wrote:

I've read Cannery Row and liked it. I like the books from Steinbeck in general. What is the name of the biography from the Doc? "Beyond the Outer Shores" ? Is it recommendable?

Very...

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/401670.Beyond_the_Outer_Shores

-Jochen

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.

-------- Original message --------
From: Steven A Smith [hidden email]
Date: 10/25/19 16:53 (GMT+01:00)
To: [hidden email]
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] John Steinbeck in the 21st century

...On a recent pleasure/work trip I *re*visited Monterrey CA and Cannery Row which lead me to *re*read Steinbeck's Cannery Row which lead me to read something of a biography of the Doc character in his novel (and the movie) for whom the prototype was Ed Ricketts...
Beyond the Outer Shores was written roughly 15 years ago, recounting Ricketts' life and career. I knew that Steinbeck was a good friend of Ricketts but I was not aware of how much work they did together, including a summer of kayaking in the Sea of Cortez which yielded the data for the book they co-authored by the name "Sea of Cortez". I was also unaware that Joseph Campbell spent his formative (adult) years in the company of both of these mens (and more to the point, Ricketts). The author of this biography credits Ricketts as being highly influential in the work of both Steinbeck (beyond Cannery Row) and Campbell, and credits him with leading the transition from traditional biology focused on taxonomic approaches to identification of collected specimens. Ricketts approached collecting and identifying (mostly marine) species as well as writing them up in his famous trilogy on the topic in the context of a newly emergent field of "ecology". He was simultaneously under-appreciated due to his lack of formal education, his lack of academic affiliation whilst also being a highly prolific commercial collector/supplier of specimens to the same community while identifying a huge number of new species (perhaps only recognizing the subtle differences based on habitat and foodweb relations) within his purview (the range of the Pacific coast along the North American coast from Bering Sea to Panama).
On 10/23/19 3:39 PM, Jochen Fromm wrote:
I recently stumbled upon John Steinbeck's classic novel "The Grapes of Wrath" and wonder if it is similar to the situation today. You will all know it since it is often read in High Schools, right? (I had to read Goethe in School. And "Animal Farm" plus "To kill a Mocking Bird" in the English class).

As you know Steinbeck describes how migrants from Oklahoma called Okies look for a better life in California. They travel along the Route 66, which Steinbeck helped to make popular, passed Albuquerque and Santa Fe, and drove to the West until they arrived in California where the locals disliked and rejected them.
https://www.nationalgeographic.org/news/grapes-wrath

Today we have migrants from Cuba and Mexico looking for a better life in the US and refugees from Syria and Afghanistan who cause a lot of trouble in the EU. Many of these refugees and migrants live in camps, just like the ones Steinbeck visited.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2002/feb/02/johnsteinbeck.socialsciences

Steinbeck's novel takes place during the "Dust Bowl". Today the dry regions in the South suffer from droughts and wild fires caused by Climate Change worldwide. Everything sounds similar, as if history is repeating itself.
https://www.history.com/news/10-things-you-may-not-know-about-the-dust-bowl

-J.
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============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
archives back to 2003: http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/
FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove

Steve Smith

Re: John Steinbeck in the 21st century

Jochen,

“WEAK”!!!!!!!!??????????

Suh! Pistols at Dawn!

One bright day, in the middle of the night
two young boys stood up to fight
back to back they faced the other
drew their swords and shot one another

Nick Thompson

Re: John Steinbeck in the 21st century

“… a deaf policeman heard the noise,

And came to rescue those two dead boys.”

Nicholas S. Thompson

Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Biology

Clark University

http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/

From: Friam [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Steven A Smith
Sent: Monday, October 28, 2019 5:44 PM
To: [hidden email]
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] John Steinbeck in the 21st century

Jochen,

“WEAK”!!!!!!!!??????????
Suh! Pistols at Dawn!

One bright day, in the middle of the night
two young boys stood up to fight
back to back they faced the other
drew their swords and shot one another

HighlandWindsLLC Miller

Re: John Steinbeck in the 21st century

In reply to this post by Jochen Fromm-5

“But in the light of the dead dark night, the two boys asked for a second chance, shooting the policeman in the head, as she laughed uncontrollably at their dusty remains.”
...Peggy m miller. ...happy Halloween!

Sent from my iPad

On Oct 28, 2019, at 11:06 PM, Nick Thompson <[hidden email]> wrote:

“… a deaf policeman heard the noise,
And came to rescue those two dead boys.”

Nicholas S. Thompson
Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Biology
Clark University
http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/

From: Friam [[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Steven A Smith
Sent: Monday, October 28, 2019 5:44 PM
To: [hidden email]
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] John Steinbeck in the 21st century

Jochen,

“WEAK”!!!!!!!!??????????
Suh! Pistols at Dawn!
One bright day, in the middle of the night
two young boys stood up to fight
back to back they faced the other
drew their swords and shot one another

HighlandWindsLLC Miller

Re: John Steinbeck in the 21st century.. reply of the policeman

“And yet the bullet went astray, as the boys, in horror, watched and saw, the policeman rise smiling as she quietly spoke: “you forgot to compute in gravity. You see my head is not as it appears, it lacks the height you gave it, the dead night light waves respond differently when losing their glow, I’m really two inches shorter”.

“Then one boy bravely walked to the officer, and shook her hand most gamely, he said aloud so all could hear, “it wasn’t your height I miscalculated, indeed, I loaded my gun with reversing direction. You see I was trying to end my own life, but not let any one know it, but the angle of my trajectory went directly into the ground! So you and I are both alive, though I am not sure what life is anyway, but I definitely need to brush up on my math for I had forgotten about the hypotenuse.” They shook hands and promised to write but they didn’t, and all three left that place quietly, the gun lay in the dirt in the darkness, waiting for better equations.

Pmmiller

Sent from my iPad

On Oct 31, 2019, at 8:45 AM, HighlandWindsLLC Miller <[hidden email]> wrote:

“But in the light of the dead dark night, the two boys asked for a second chance, shooting the policeman in the head, as she laughed uncontrollably at their dusty remains.”
...Peggy m miller. ...happy Halloween!
Sent from my iPad

On Oct 28, 2019, at 11:06 PM, Nick Thompson <[hidden email]> wrote:

“… a deaf policeman heard the noise,
And came to rescue those two dead boys.”

Nicholas S. Thompson
Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Biology
Clark University
http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/

From: Friam [[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Steven A Smith
Sent: Monday, October 28, 2019 5:44 PM
To: [hidden email]
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] John Steinbeck in the 21st century

Jochen,

“WEAK”!!!!!!!!??????????
Suh! Pistols at Dawn!
One bright day, in the middle of the night
two young boys stood up to fight
back to back they faced the other
drew their swords and shot one another