I feel like calling her "Our Very Own" Rachel Maddow although she is a national treasure. Fearless, honest, strong and courageous, saying what we wish we had thought to say. In her unique way she presents a set of facts, outlines a position with utter frankness and precision. She speaks with an almost diabolic clarity. Most importantly, just as John Steinbeck (1902-1968) fought for the disenfranchised, for the truth to out, she does.
Rachel Maddow has won the John Steinbeck Award. It is:
given to writers or artists "whose work captures the spirit of Steinbeck's empathy, commitment to democratic values, and belief in the dignity of people." Saying his father "would have adored" Maddow, Steinbeck's son Thomas cited his sense of trust in her, the feeling she projects that "I’m part of an alliance."
http://www.commondreams.org/
It is so fitting that she wins the Award while we are still in the throes of a near Depression.
In the Common Dreams announcement, writer Abby Zimet quotes Steinbeck from his most famous book (which if you didn't read you probably saw the movie of) The Grapes of Wrath (Ch. 25): "In the Souls of the People"
We have moved to become one people out of many. ~Steinbeck in Grapes of Wrath.
She is now in the ranks of Studds Terkel and Joan Baez, Arthur Miller and Garrison Keillor in receiving this award. She's just the third woman to be so honored and the
only one under age 40!
Steinbeck was one of us! In his soul. As you probably know. He was a very courageous man to write as he did, just as our Rachel Maddow has been, time and time again.
Winner of both the fPulitzer Prize for Fiction (1940) and the Nobel Prize in Literature (1962), Steinbeck is well worth reading today.
These quotes stand out to me:
“I believe a strong woman may be stronger than a man, particularly if she happens to have love in her heart. I guess a loving woman is indestructible.”
― John Steinbeck, East of Eden
“Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen.”
― John Steinbeck
“Try to understand men. If you understand each other you will be kind to each other. Knowing a man well never leads to hate and almost always leads to love.”
― John Steinbeck
If you don't know about Steinbeck, see Wiki.
Grapes was controversial. Steinbeck's New Deal political views, negative portrayal of aspects of capitalism, and sympathy for the plight of workers, led to a backlash against the author, especially close to home. Claiming the book was both obscene and misrepresented conditions in the county, the Kern County Board of Supervisors banned the book from the county's publicly funded schools and libraries in August 1939. This ban lasted until January 1941.
Of the controversy, Steinbeck wrote, "The vilification of me out here from the large landowners and bankers is pretty bad. The latest is a rumor started by them that the Okies hate me and have threatened to kill me for lying about them. I'm frightened at the rolling might of this damned thing. It is completely out of hand; I mean a kind of hysteria about the book is growing that is not healthy."
I just love this quote by Thomas Steinbeck, the son of John Steinbeck in the release statement:
“My father would have adored Rachel Maddow … Listening to Rachel Maddow is like listening to Walter Cronkite. We have that kind of trust in her. When I watch Rachel Maddow, I feel like I’m part of an alliance. I hope she’s in it for the long haul, because we really need her.”mediabistro
You may be able to attend the "Evening with Rachel Maddow":
Rachel Maddow Accepts Steinbeck Award
An Evening with Rachel Maddow
at Morris Dailey Auditorium
Feb 25 at 7 30 PM
Accepting the John Steinbeck Award, Rachel Maddow appears at Morris Daley Auditorium in conversation with Pat Thurston.
Steinbeck Center
We adore you too, Rachel. And we're so happy you are the great journalist you are!
I raise my glass to you!
CONGRATULATIONS!