Jackson J. Benson is an emeritus professor of American Literature at San Diego State University and the author of ten books. Among them are five biographies of Western writers incl...view moreJackson J. Benson is an emeritus professor of American Literature at San Diego State University and the author of ten books. Among them are five biographies of Western writers including The True Adventures of John Steinbeck, Writer, which won the PEN USA award for nonfiction, and another, Wallace Stegner: His Life and Work, which won the Evans Biography Award. He and his wife live part of the year in La Mesa, California and part in a cabin in the Sierras.view less