Nancy Ricketts died yesterday June 1 2024. She was born November 28, 1924. She was almost one hundred years old and she had experienced many of the most important events of the twentieth century. Her father was Edward Ricketts who was a friend and inspiration for John Steinbeck. Steinbeck was one of America’s great writers and Ricketts helped co-create some of the most wonderful characters in American literature: “Doc Ricketts” in the novels, Cannery Row and Sweet Thursday were the most direct borrowing of Ed’s personality but it’s pretty clear that almost every one of Steinbecks books had a philosophical character who shared opinions and passions with Nancy’s Dad. Steinbeck loved Ricketts and it’s pretty clear that he stretched the truth about his friend over the years. but Nancy understood that the exaggerations came from an excess of affection. But over time it became more important to Nancy that readers know that Ed was a good father, a point that could be skipped over when reviewing the literature which was replete with drunken adventures that Steinbeck liked to recount, think of the the wild frog hunt that Ed’s friends put on as a favor to “Doc” which ended up with the near destruction of the lab.
Nancy certainly loved her father and had an rightful claim to his reputation. She remembered him reading to her and her brother in the house on fourth street in Pacific Grove. He read the Illiad and loved to teach his children about plants and animals. Through her eyes growing up on the Monterey Peninsula in the 1920’s was a magical time where the desert country met the sea. She loved listening to her dad talk with friends until late in the night. She said she never remembered anyone raising their voices in anger, but enjoyed discussing ideas and listening to ancient music on their family record player. Famous men and women would come by the house and alcohol was consumed, cigars were smoked but Nancy didn’t recall any drunken arguments. She remembers her fathers social scene being civilized in ways that Steinbeck did not render in his stories. But perhaps she was a heavy sleeper and simply missed out on the parties when they turned rough. I thought to myself as I listened to her recount those remarkable times when the artists and thinkers of the day chatted in her living room while she drifted off to sleep in her bed. At any rate she was a loving and a loyal daughter, and a good friend to many. I will miss her beautiful smile for the rest of my life.
Nancy’s room in the Pioneers Home in Sitka, Alaska: the scene of many of our conversations.
I will be writing more about Nancy in the future. If you want to revisit her world you should read or re-read Cannery Row by John Steinbeck. It may not be the thing itself but it is what the thing should be. You can also contact Old Harbor Books in Sitka (907) 747-8808 and ask for a copy of her memoir Becoming Myself. You can also ask for Ed Ricketts: from Cannery Row to Sitka, Alaska. Which has a fine autobiographical essay in it.
I have a short reading from that essay here:
