<Tr> <Th> Notable works </Th> <Td> Of Mice and Men (1937) The Grapes of Wrath (1939) East of Eden (1952) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Notable awards </Th> <Td> Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (1940) Nobel Prize in Literature (1962) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Spouses </Th> <Td> Carol Henning (m . 1930; div. 1943) Gwyn Conger (m . 1943; div. 1948) Elaine Scott (m . 1950) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Children </Th> <Td> John Steinbeck IV (1946--1991) Thomas Steinbeck (1944--2016) </Td> </Tr>

One important source of steinbeck's writing material was