Salinas, CA � October 2001 � Next year, author John Steinbeck would have turned 100. With the Salinas, Calif. National Steinbeck Center serving as a focal point, the John Steinbeck Centennial will fan out across the nation with a year-long series of events commemorating the life, times and artistic vision of Salinas' Nobel and Pulitzer prize-winning son.

Now through October 2002, the National Steinbeck Center and the Center for Steinbeck Studies at San Jose State University will present the Steinbeck Centennial Monthly Series that will examine the life and works of John Steinbeck and his legacy in literature, film, theater, journalism and other disciplines.  Programs will be held both in Salinas and San Jose and each venue will feature a variety of speakers, panel discussions, films, tours and dramatic readings by The Western Stage. Each month will focus on a text and explore a different theme, such as social activism in the 1930s; personal perspectives of Steinbeck, the man; and multiculturalism.  The first programs will be October 25th and 27th with �Viva Steinbeck! The influence of Mexico and Mexican Culture on John Steinbeck.�

An exclusive centennial exhibition will open at the National Steinbeck Center next month. �Dorothea Lange: Human Documents� will be on exhibit November 18, 2001 to April 7, 2002. Dorothea Lange and John Steinbeck each captured the human condition, one with images, one with words.  This exhibition of original photographs on loan from the Oakland Museum of California will be shown in its only West Coast appearance.   One of the most influential photographers of the twentieth century Lange played a pioneering role the field of documentary photography.  Her images of the Great Depression such as the famous �Migrant Mother� were catalysts for social change. Like Steinbeck, throughout Lange�s work, her concern and interest in the human condition is foremost.

The next edition of the Steinbeck Centennial Monthly Series is scheduled for November 15 and 17, 2001 and will feature program related to the Dorothea Lange exhibition titled �Factories in the Field� focusing on Steinbeck's portrayal of agricultural workers in the 1930s.

Centennial festivities and events will mark Steinbeck's birthday month of February throughout Monterey County including: special programs and exhibits at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, Monterey Art Museum, and Monterey Public Library; the performance of Aaron Copland's The Red Pony Suite and the premiere of a commissioned Centennial work by the Monterey County Symphony; bus and walking tours; films at the Maritime Museum; Steinbeck theater performances by The Western Stage, and much more.  Steinbeck's 100th birthday on February 27, 2002 will be feted with a program of special guests and the photography exhibit Dorothea Lange: Human Documents at the National Steinbeck Center; an intimate birthday dinner at the Steinbeck House, the author's boyhood home, in Salinas; and a birthday party presented by the Cannery Row Foundation in Monterey.

Across the country, the PEN/American Center and the Library of America will hold a Gala Tribute on March 19, 2002 at Lincoln Center in New York, followed by John Steinbeck's Americas: A Centennial Conference at Hofstra University from March 21-23, 2002.

The 22nd Steinbeck Festival, �Steinbeck�s Legacy,� is scheduled for August 1- 4, 2002. This festival will examine the author�s contemporary significance, drawing upon numerous disciplines in order to provide a broad understanding of the enduring influence of Steinbeck and his writings. The Festival, will host speakers, panel discussions, feature-length films, tours to Steinbeck-related sites, special events and entertainment.

A coalition of 26 non-profit cultural organizations from across the United States received a $260,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities that will sponsor 120 exhibitions, performances and lectures in 75 venues across the nation led by The Mercantile Library of New York, the Center for Steinbeck Studies at San Jose State University, and the National Steinbeck Center in Salinas, California.

For more information on the National Steinbeck Center, visit www.steinbeck.org or call 831/796-3833. The official centennial Web site, www.steinbeck100.org, features a complete calendar of Steinbeck Centennial events in Monterey County, throughout California and New York.

The Centennial Monthly series is made possible in part by grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities; The California Council for the Humanities, a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, and the City of Salinas. Media Sponsors: The Monterey County Herald, KWAV, MAGIC 63 Radio. The Centennial Steinbeck 2002 Festival is sponsored in part by Viking Penguin, the Cannery Row Marketing Company, and the Pebble Beach Company.

Media Contact:
Amanda Holder, Director of Marketing
(831)775-4725;  e-mail: aholder@steinbeck.org|