Naturally, I was so excited about getting this
letter that I called the San Jose Mercury News
and asked if they would like to print it. Nope!
I called the Associated Press and asked them,
too, but got the same negative answer. But I got
an A on the class assignment.
About a decade later, I had a tax bill of
$3,000 and was broke. I knew I had to think
creatively on how to pay the IRS. I took the
Steinbeck letter to Cannery Row and began
'You will find it hard
to believe that I first
knew the Row as a
rabbit warren of
Chinatown with old,
rickety buildings and
connecting alleys.'
Steinbeck's "Cannery Row" fictionalized his
experiences in that area (above), including
his friendship with marine biologist Ed
Ricketts. (Left) A Chinese cemetery, Point
Alones Village, near Pacific Grove, 1895.
(Bottom) Ruins of China Town, 1906.
218 C A R M E L M A G A Z I N E • S U M M E R / F A L L 2 0 1 5
