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Newspaper Archive of
Shelton Mason County Journal
Shelton, Washington
January 13, 2022     Shelton Mason County Journal
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January 13, 2022
 
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Thursday, Jan. 13, 2022 Shelton-Mason County Journal Page A—11 The Gateway inn and Cabins in Hoodsport during the 19303 was the spring and summer headquarters for Ed Ricketts, a marine biologist and one films. Courtesy photos ' of John Steinbeck’s best friends. He was the inspiration for the character “Doc” in Steinbeck’s novel “Cannery Row.” Below, left to right, Gig Harbor historian Michael Kenneth Hemp is the author of “Cannery Row:‘The History of John Steinbeck’s Pacific Northwest.”John Steinbeck’s best-known novels include “The Old Ocean Wew Avenue and Its Connections to the Grapes of Wrath,” “Of, Mice and Men" and “East of Eden,” which were made into Connecting legendary novelist to Hondsport By Gordon Weeks gordon@masorrcounty. com id one of the country’s great- est novelists, John Steinbeck, . spend a week in Hoodsport during the 1940s? > And did a Hoodsport logger named Ernie Dahman teach the author of “Grapes of Wrath,” “Of Mice and Men” and “Cannery Row” how to shoot a gun? . The answers to these questions are “holy grails” to Gig Harbor historian Michael Kenneth Hemp, author of “Cannery Row:‘ The History of John Steinbeck’s Old Ocean View Avenue and Its Connec- tions to the Pacific Northwest.” 2 “That’s the cru- cial part of it now,” Hemp said in an interview with the Journal. He added, “I’m trying to build a new factual history of Shelton and Hood Canal that no one knows about.” Anyone who knows anything about Steinbeck’s connection to Hoodsport Hemp . can contact Hemp at 831-236-2990 or mkhemp@thehistorycompany.com. Here’s a quick biographical recap of Steinbeck for those who haven’t touched one of novels _since it was. re- quired reading in school: I Steinbeck was born in Salinas, Ca1- ifornia, in 1902. His first published book in 1935 was “Tortilla Flats,” a series of humorous stories about Mon- terey “paisonos.” Steinbeck’s works include “Of Mice and Men” in 1937, “The Grapes of Wrath” in 1939, and “East of Eden” in 1952. All were made into major mov- ies starring the likes of Henry Fonda and James Dean. . “The Grapes of Wrath” tells the , story of an Oklahoma family whose land becomes unfarmable during the v Dust Bowl days of the early 19308, and travels to California in search of - a better life. They become farm work- ers in labor camps with low pay and no rights. Steinbeck was awarded a Nobel Prize, a Pulitzer Prize and the US. Medal of Freedom. He died in New York City in 1968.- x Steinbeck’s connection to the Pa— cific Northwest came through his good friend, Ed Ricketts. Ricketts was a marine biologist and ecologist on Can- nery Row. - Ricketts is the model for the char- acter “Doc” in the novel “Cannery ROW.” , Hemp said Ricketts spent most of the springs and summers during the 1930s in Hoodsport, where he and, his family‘stayed at the Gateway Inn and Cabins. From there, heconducted‘ maritime research of Salish Sea wa- ters'that led to his 1939 presentation, “Between Pacific Tides.” Steinbeck possibly came to ~Hoodsport to see why the area was so important to Ricketts’ work, Hemp said. Hemp said a relative of Dahman told himthat Dahman taught Stein- beck how to shoot a gun; Steinbeck also reportedly autographed copies of some of his books that were on Dah- man’s shelf, and whose whereabouts , are unknown, hesaid. Hemp said he believes a Steinbeck connection to Hoodsport and Mason County would attract tourists inter- ested in the historical, maritime, lit— eracy and ecological legacies it shares with Cannery Row and Monterey, and the entire West Coast. Another Stein- beck attraction in Western Washing- “ ton is the ongoing restoration of the. boat Western Flyer in Port Townsend. ,The purse'seiner was built, in Tacoma "in 1937, In 1940, Steinbeck and Rick- etts set off for a six-week journey to L the Sea of Cortez on the boat. The voyage inspired Steinbeck’s book “Sea of Cortez.” The boat is scheduled to be relaunched this year. L