Author John Steinbeck Volunteered to Work With the CIA
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American novelist John Steinbeck wrote classics such as East of Eden (1952), Of Mice and Men (1937) and The Grapes of Wrath (1939). Compared to 007 creator Ian Fleming, Steinbeck seems like an unlikely spy, but during the Cold War, he was tasked by Collier’s magazine to tour the Mediterranean and write articles on things that inspired him. Steinbeck thought the opportunity would enable him to spy on communists, so he wrote a letter to Walter Bedell “Beetle” Smith, the head of the CIA, who took him up on the plan. The pair met in Washington, but the details of Steinbeck’s activities are unclear. All that’s known is that every single Thursday he got “lost in and around Paris,” possibly meeting other intelligence agents.