his story have carried readers from the the valley to monterey. tonight we revisit the life and work of one of california's most famous authors. john stein beck. up next on a second look. >> this year marks 75 years

since awe that are john stein back published his book. the valley today is mostly peace full n. the time at stein back it was not always so. at the time there was battles between the have's and the have not's. diana ross prepares this looking back in the year 2000s. >> in the 1930s with the nation's of the deep depression, california's farmers demanding better working. agriculture was making some people rich. green gold and lettuce have pushed the city to the top of the nation of per capita's income.

>> the exporters were getting more money and the need of the workers were neglected. >> men who lived alone. in california it was a crime for philippine men to mary women of different races. >> and then we went to the fields because no one would take this work. >> philippine lettuce cutters organizing one of california's first armed labor union. they formed an alliance with the shed workers. the strike was effective for a few weeks until the white packers settled with management. the filipinos soon went

back to work. >> it was a mess with the tear gas and you might get shot. >> hendricks was 99-year-old who was standing on the sidewalk at 1936 as the scene is still fresh in his mind unfolded. the city was in the mist of violent strike by lettuce packers. so called oakie's trying to make a living in the packing shed. strikers trying to stop lettuce from going to . . the actions of weeks of worries in parts of growers. >> growers hired their own private police force of 3000 to protect them as they built fences around their property. >> the deal made a bunch of

plans. you know it was one out of those that got in that. >> people carried anything to defend themselves. it turn out to be the most violent agricultural strike in california to that date. it was settled only after the federal government recognized the packers union. >> celina favorite's favorite son, the author john steinback. >> i had to lose everything i had in life. >> in the grapes of raft which became a movie, steinback wrote about this family who looks for work in the california fields. the novel was the best seller but steinback was no longer welcome in his own town according to his friend, hendricks. >> he says if he would ever come

to california, they would kill him. >> who would kill him? >> the people that did not like him. >> many accused steinback to be -- >> john was not a commonist. instead, he says steinback simply bore witness to events in the field. >> still to come on a second look, they came in search of a better life, a look at what they found in the selena valley. and later, heart times and good times on the street in monterey that was renamed for steinback's novel, cannery road.

welcome back to a second look as we mark 75 years since the grapes of wrath was established. a land that promised a new

life for those leaving during the great depression. 20 years ago betty and bruno went to santa cruz county where she sed for a new life in california. >> long before the sun comes up, one of four workers camping near watson field in santa cruz county. children getting ready for school and men get ready for fields. the family rent two room force $450 a month. the rooms were separated by the central hallway which was used by all tenants. between 6: 30 and 7: children tumbled out all doors to line up for school bus. after school some will go to the county's recreational center to

games and help with homework. county inspectors say the water is not fit to drink, that too many people are crowded in the tiny apartment residents seeing the camp differently and to them in the crowded condition, it is their threshold to the american dreams. much better of the condition they left in mexico and rent much cheaper in town. >> [ speaking spanish ] >> this is as good place to live. >> [ speaking spanish ] >> what i earned here is a big help to my family in mexico. it is possible that i might go back to mexico to live but it is better living here. >> 29-year-old samuel picks strawberries flat and he says at the

height of the season he earns about $7 a week, not quite enough to live on. pick lettuce is growing. lettuce farms stretching from sh to canada. but, at least working conditiond in the past 25 years. >> the whole agriculture industry is incredibly watched. myself being a regulator and onf the people out there watching. we are looking to make sure that there is clean bathrooms and there is fresh water. i don't see people as a rule fluffing off. >> some harvesting contractors in an effort to reduce injuries supply back braces to workers and beginning everyday with warm up exercises. farm labor even at its best is hard, hard work.

>> for many farm workers, the workday is a familiar eight hours a day. it is not uncommon for farmers to work up to 14 hours a day to take advantage o f the season to earn a few extra dollars. farm workers' backs often give out after a few years. much farm workers speak little o english. . the isolation of the camp has some advantages, however. >> [ speaking spanish ] >> our kids come home from school to their homes and they don't get mixed up over there with the games and the drugs. it is six miles from town to here. it is a help for those of us who live here for kids that don't get caught up with games and they don't use drugs. >> six miles from town also

means six miles from the grocery store. everyday romero brings produce. >> [ speaking spanish ] >> i come and give them service. >> residents also get food from the local food bank. food bank is set up in special aisles. mayb residents cannot stop the county tearing the town down but they can make it better. >> [ speaking spanish ] >> for covering up and scratches and stains on the walls to make the place we live a little more presentable. >> evenings are simple and after sun set most families going to

their own apartments for a standard meal of rice and tortillas. >> the family settles in for tv and juan torres talks about his hope for his family in the future. >> [ speaking spanish ] >> school, i think in every country is important. if my daughter lives there study, pretty soon they don't have to be working in the field but instead possibly in an office or maybe as an journalist but based on the education they can receive. so as they say, the future belong to the children. >> life remains difficult for those working in the valley fields. according to the census bureau, some 26, 000 working in the field last year. the mean wage is -- according to the public's advocacy groups and the county that calls themselves

the salad bowl of the world, nearly 17% of the population is food in secure or at risks ongoing hungry. steinbeck found it is hard in its romance of his 1945 romance.

tonight on a second look, we celebrate john steinbeck and the selena valley of the publication of the grapes wrath. the stream was renamed cannery road. reporter john fowler looks at the history of can er road of the year 2000. >> for today tourists jam a few blocks call cannery road. and once the economic engine of this park of the golden state. >> it started during california's gold rush. the fortune here are based on the catch of

silver, silver, agreed by the death of the fish. cannery road's history is colorful with a contemporary message. >> it has a great history and a lesson that we are trying to make the world aware of, what happens to our sardines. >> the cannery road once looked like this. their prosp lured spanish fishermen and norwegian workers. just after a turn of the century , flech of cannery opened here. >> sardines originally where plentiful this this bay, you could

almost walk on them. >> it was boomed with a capital "b". world war one sending profits soaring. it would spin the head of today's e-commerce. investigators doubling their mos . >> the near by hotel catered to the rich from a the world. the view were stunning but so as the odor from the cannery. >> the smell was so awful, when you exhale, you hope that oh god, you don't have to breathe it again. >> he walked us through the cannery road, the marine laboratory that's so intriguing.

it was here by these tanks sparked steinbeck's imagination. >> edward keeps various yous marine marine specimen. steinbeck wrote the american classic cannery road based on ricket's life and passions. all and it was it was one of the things that i did not know what he was talking about. apparently, it was a favorite subject for steinbeck to talk about. >> now, the moore known as today of the queen of cannery road. before she realized that was ste

hunt, she remodelled and renewed the prophase. the place. >> we have cubicals and seven of them. >> it is a dining room now. this chandeliers recalls a more windowed time. >> and wicked pretty much sums up the cannery work. they work until they canned all the catch without breaks. >> sometimes the men over loading their boats with sardines, they sank. the vast majority of billions of tons of fishes were grounded and burned up for fertilizer. canning was a lower profit sideline. despite warnings of over fishing from experts, the world's largest sardine industry charged on but suddenly

in 1948, the same year ed ricket died in the car crash and the tide turned on cannery road. it was down 95% in 1950. economic disaster that threw thf people out of work. >> the world still has not learned some of these lessons about the fisheries that's under pressure worldwide. they're facing the same decision that monterey had to make, fish or jobs and monterey chose jobs and lost the fish and the jobs. >> today 4 million visitors a year replaced the fishing industry and businesses are good here, it is shops and dining rather than nets and canning. >> the monterey aquarium now carries on the work. on display of sardines. but fishing will never again

dominate here and communities depended on the sea worldwide could learn from cannery road. >> as john fowler reported, the sardines did return to monterey county. it took until 1970 for them to reach their peak. that number has been declining t years. according to experts, there are1 00, 000 tons of sardines currently in the west coast fishery. this was decline part of the cycle in recent years brought colder water to the west coast. legal level for fishing sardines are historically low levels. when we come back on a second look. ♪ ♪ this land was made for you and me. >> his music captured the spirit

of the century, and offering message to americans facing hard times. if it matters to you, it matters to us. book now online, only at southwest.com.

welcome back to a second look as we honor john steinbeck. a new generation of people found inspirations of two american writers who knew of troubled time. ktvu brought us this report in 2008. >> when the crash of october 1929 hit wall street, the party that had been the roaring 20s came to a horticulture. >> it is steinbeck's images that captured the story and gut tri music that captured the fighting

spirits. >> this land was made for you and me. >> as i went walking i saw it there and on the sign it says no trespassing but on the other side, it didn't say nothing. that sign was made for you and me. >> gothrie -- taking part in a tribute to their famous relatives. the two reflected on uncertain times peopl looking back to older messages. >> it means a lot for the people as their voice being heard. >> we are about to hit some really rough times and it is funny that every time we do, all the

old music and old times coming back. >> mark twain says history was not repeat itself but it rhyme. there is a lot of rhymes. both gothrie and steinbeck helps of american. "geico sportsnite" says 25% unemployment rate and a decline of production by 50%. >> it is not really the same situation as the country face. i think americans are in a position now to be understanding about the great depression.

>> that empathy brings people together. >> when we find ourself in the condition where government betrayed us and business cheated us, and all of a sudden we are victims of all of this. >> he says people try to figure out how to response to the crisis, they turn to the music. >> people asking us for change and people sleeping in the streets. politicians still have not have a way >> since the grapes of wrath was published, some 14 copies have been sold. the board of supervisors banned the book from libraries and schools in 1939. the farmers went so far to recruit one of his workers to burn a copy of leaders found the book show them in poor

light. the first edition of hard back s 619 pages and sold for $2. 75. a mint condition of the first edition is now valued at $25, 000 and that's it for this week's second look. i am julie haner, thank you for watching. e you go. r cats. ad lasers. i don't. pew pew pew... the new radioshack is finally here. the store of your past is now the store of your future. come see one of our remodeled stores and get a free portable power charger with a $15 purchase.

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