Matt, I’m neither a millennial nor a moron, and yet I enjoyed this story! A fascinating, little-known episode that adds to our understanding of Steinbeck.

Also, I’m forever amused by how much living white guys hate the phrase “dead white guys.” It’s just a tongue-in-cheek way of referencing the canon from, like, pomo grad seminars in the ’80s, bro! It’s not personal!

Relatedly, perhaps there’s some way we can send out a memo alerting readers to the fact that writers rarely choose their own headlines.