Who is Tom Joad?

[upaloopa]

56. Steinbeck dedicated Grapes of Wrath to the manager of Weedpatch Camp. They became Friends when

Steinbeck was there. It's in a town called Arvin on route 223 south of Bakersfield. I worked as a temp Accountant for the city of Arvin. The Mayor was Mexican as are just about everyone else in town. He told me 1/2 of the citizens were undocumented. The only grocery store has a huge tortilla machine.
The opening scene in the movie has Tom walking to a crossroads. The direction he is walking (north) leads to Lamont about tens miles away and the road east goes to Arvin. Lamont and Arvin are almost completely populated by Mexican immigrants. Weedpatch Camp and Arvin school (Weedpatch school) are on the next road up parallel to the one to Arvin.

I ended up being the controller of the largest labor contractor in the San Joaquin valley. I used to know most of the growers there. Keene which is mentioned in the movie is where the United Farm Workers union headquarters is located. Obama when there this year. Keene is about 20 miles from Arvin on route 58.