If you ever read John Steinbeck’s 1945 novel “Cannery Row,” then you know this business as the fictional “Western Biological Laboratory.” Ed Ricketts, who was a marine biologist and the founder of the real Pacific Biological Laboratories, was the character Doc in the book. During the l940’s, Steinbeck, Henry Miller and other local artists used this laboratory for their social meetings. Steinbeck’s wife, Carol, was a secretary and bookkeeper here.