--- description: The story centers on a black WWII pilot title: 'Lost' John Steinbeck Story To Be Published image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt095ffffb611c8c47/698764ff35ba6f5997c04e6c/john-steinbeck.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [History](/section/history/) ## History Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Books](/tag/books/) ## Books Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # 'Lost' John Steinbeck Story To Be Published, 70 Years On by [Sarah Begley](/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 6, 2014 4:59 PM CUT  Author and Nobel Prize winner John Steinbeck, early 1960s. Author and Nobel Prize winner John Steinbeck, early 1960s.Underwood Archives—Getty Images by [Sarah Begley](/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 6, 2014 4:59 PM CUT A John Steinbeck story titled “With Your Wings” will be published Friday in _The Strand_ magazine, 70 years after the _Of Mice and Men_ author read it in a radio broadcast that until now was thought to be undocumented and unrecorded. The quarterly journal’s managing editor recently found a transcript of the story while going through the University of Texas at Austin’s archives. “With Your Wings” tells the story of a black WWII pilot who returns home after training feeling out of place and apprehensive. When his father sees the silver wings pinned to his chest, he expresses how meaningful his service will be at a time when the U.S. Army was still segregated. “‘Son,” he says, “every black man in the world is going to fly with your wings.” \[[_AP_](http://www.chron.com/news/us/article/Rare-Steinbeck-WWII-story-finally-published-5875157.php "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3561853/lost-john-steinbeck-story/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3561853/lost-john-steinbeck-story/"},"headline":"'Lost' John Steinbeck Story To Be Published, 70 Years On","datePublished":"2014-11-06T16:59:07.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T11:16:42.361Z","description":"The story centers on a black WWII pilot","url":"https://time.com/3561853/lost-john-steinbeck-story/","keywords":["Books"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt095ffffb611c8c47/698764ff35ba6f5997c04e6c/john-steinbeck.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sarah Begley","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt095ffffb611c8c47/698764ff35ba6f5997c04e6c/john-steinbeck.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Author John Steinbeck","caption":"Author John Steinbeck","creditText":"Underwood Archives—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/history/","name":"History"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/books/","name":"Books"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3561853/lost-john-steinbeck-story/","name":"'Lost' John Steinbeck Story To Be Published, 70 Years On"}}]}] ```