Gene Adkins

Gene Adkins, the son of Dust Bowl migrants, was born and raised on a farm in the Salinas Valley where he became an avid fan of John Steinbeck. As a youth he hiked the Salinas River from Soledad south for twelve miles and found the only place where the river cuts as described in Of Mice and Men. He attended Hartnell Junior College, Salinas, Ca, Chico State College, Chico, Ca and the University of California, Davis. He has a Bachelor’s in Chemistry and a Master’s in Economics. He studied writing through the University of California, Berkeley extension and the San Francisco Learning Exchange. He lives in Northern California and has a son, Mark, who lives near Oakland, Ca. “A Kite Story” is adapted from South of Soledad, a novel.