One Man, Two Worlds
Historic Cannery Row
Doc, the legend
John Steinbeck used his close friend and collaborator, Edward Ricketts, as a model for the famous fictional character Doc. In the novels Cannery Row and Sweet Thursday, set in the 1930s and 1940s, the kindly Doc is a gentle, insightful and observant philosopher-scientist who lives and works on the street that has become the world-famous Cannery Row.
Ed Ricketts, the scientist
Ed Ricketts was a serious and dedicated scientist. He researched the tide pools of the West Coast from Canada to Mexico, studying the interrelationships of marine species, and worked to develop an ecological philosophy of life. His book Between Pacific Tides, a pioneering sturdy of intertidal communities originally published in 1939, continues to be used by students of marine biology.
The Edward Ricketts Memorial
A monument to Ed Ricketts stands near Cannery Row, at the intersection of Drake Avenue and Wave Street. There, on the evening of May 8, 1948, while driving across the railroad tracks, Ricketts was struck by a train. He was nearly 51. Devastated by his friend’s death, Steinbeck wrote, “There dies the greatest man I have known and the best teacher. It is going to take a long time to reorganize my thinking and my planning without him.”
Marker is on Cannery Row near Bruce Aris Way (Irving Avenue).
Courtesy hmdb.org
