Three Surprising Facts about John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men

An alumnus of Portland Community College who served in the U.S. Navy, John Oscar Branch founded and owned three companies while living in Oregon earlier in his life. Now a resident of Sun City West, Arizona, John Oscar Branch enjoys reading and counts John Steinbeck as one of his favorite authors. 

Prominently taught in high school English classes, Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men is one of the acclaimed author's more popular novels. Here are three surprising facts about the book:

The character of Lennie Small was based on a real person.
During a 1937 New York Times interview, Steinbeck revealed that one of the book's main characters was based on someone with whom he once worked. That person, at the time of the interview, was in a California mental institution.

Another title was considered.
The title Of Mice and Men was inspired by Robert Burns' poem To a Mouse, on Turning Her Up in Her Nest with the Plough. However, Steinbeck's original title was more simple and direct: Something That Happened.

The first draft was eaten by his dog.
Steinbeck was an animal lover and owned dogs for much of his life. Unfortunately, one of his dogs, Toby, ate half of the novel's first draft.