SALINAS, CA
Monday, July 1, 2002

'Grapes' tops area reading list
Reading program to focus on Steinbeck classic

By J. Michael Rivera
The Californian

Don't be surprised to find Tom Joad at the beach, at swanky coffeehouses and in large groups of well-heeled, well-read people.

The legendary character from John Steinbeck's novel "The Grapes of Wrath" has a busy schedule this summer. More than 140 libraries statewide have sponsored summer reading programs centered on the Pulitzer Prize-winning work.

Called California Stories: Reading "The Grapes of Wrath," the program aims to strengthen communities by bringing Californians together to read John Steinbeck's classic, said Jim Quay, executive director of the California Council for the Humanities, which is sponsoring the event.

California Stories takes a page from One Book, a national cultural movement that started in Seattle in 1998. The idea is to get people from one city to read and discuss it in groups.

Quay will be in Salinas Aug. 2 for the 22nd annual Steinbeck Festival, where he will give a lecture on why people should read "The Grapes of Wrath."

"It's an acknowledged classic," he said Friday. "I hadn't read the book until last fall. It chronicles an archetypal California story. Part of what we're about is giving people a chance to unearth and discover their own personal stories.

The Salinas Public Library is one of those that will join the California Stories campaign with a film program at Cesar Chavez Library, lectures and a discussion in Paso Robles, said library director Julia Orozco.

To get involved
The National Steinbeck Center in Salinas will co-sponsor a two-day Steinbeck program for middle-and-high-school teachers Oct. 4 and 5. Interested teachers should call Celeste DeWald at 775-4730. Information on the One Book program: www.calhum.org/programs