John Steinbeck’s New York: A Home in Sag Harbor

by Paige Grande

The First Trip - 1925

Though Steinbeck is generally known as a California writer, he lived nearly half his life in New York - keeping homes in New York City, and later in Sag Harbor, Long Island. In June of 1925 Steinbeck left Stanford University without taking a degree. He questioned where he might go next: China, Mexico, Chicago, San Francisco? Eventually, he decided to try and make his way as a writer in New York. And so in the spring of 1925, John Steinbeck set sail aboard a freighter headed to New York.

Steinbeck's first stay in New York City was overshadowed by t...