Great Americans: John Steinbeck Lives with Us Still Author John Steinbeck smokes a cigarette at his home in Sag Harbor, Long Island. (Bettmann/Getty Images) Sixty years after his death, the novelist’s broken, striving, stubborn country looks a lot like ours. Welcome back to Great Americans, a countdown to our country’s 250th birthday. We’re bringing you a writer we love on an American they love, every weekday between now and July 4.