John Steinbeck is a name known to most
Americans. Required reading in high
schools around the country, a Nobel Prize winner, and his works perennial reprinted,
few know, however, that the writer was also greatly interested in science and
travel. Best friends with the marine
biologist Ed Ricketts (inspiration for the character Doc in Cannery Row and Sweet Thursday), in 1940 the two decided to organize a scientific
expedition to Baja California
to collect intertidal specimen samples.
Looking to recoup money from the excursion, Steinbeck combined his notes with Ricketts upon their return to the US
and published The Log from the Sea of Cortez.
Well, not exactly, but you’ll see.
Vivid descriptions, personal reflection,
and that subtle insight into people that makes Steinbeck one of the greats are present in Log.
Capturing every bit of jocularity with the crew, the joys of being at
sea, and the dwindling colonialism of Mexico, Steinbeck brings his talents as a
writer to full bear describing their six weeks aboard the 75 ft. refurbished
sardine boat Western Flyer. Captain Berry, the mechanic Tex, deckhands
Sparky and Tiny, and even their bedeviled little motorboat, the Sea Cow, come to full, breathing (or in
the Sea Cow’s case, wheezing) life
under his pen. The towns and villages
along the coast of the Baja peninsula and Mexican mainland having little
contact with the outside, Steinbeck et al, in addition to their main aim of
collecting samples of intertidal marine life, were often ambassadors. Receiving a variety of greetings and welcomes
at the different ports they sail to, Steinbeck goes into loving detail every
stop along the way, making the book a travelogue as much as a scientific
recount.
