Author Steinbeck's letter to son on love, 'the best thing,' on sale

Nobel prize-winning author John Steinbeck, right, admires a prize-winning poster by his son, Thomas Steinbeck, in Hartford, Connecticut in March 1963. Photo: AP

A tender and touching letter that author John Steinbeck penned to his teenage son, offering fatherly advice after the young man confided that he was in love for the first time, is going up for auction.

Boston-based RR Auction says the handwritten draft of a letter to his eldest son, Thomas - then 14 - shows the Of Mice and Men author's empathy: He refused to dismiss it as puppy love.