During Trumbo's freshman year, his father lost his job and the family moved to Los Angeles. Realizing there would be no money coming for his education, Trumbo decided to join the family in California. Soon after, his father died.
Despite the tragedy and the family's poverty, Trumbo announced his plan to study at the University of Southern California. But since he needed money for college as well as the family, he took a job at a bakery in downtown Los Angeles. Although he did not plan to work there long, he stayed on at the bakery from 1925 until 1932, by which time he was beginning to establish himself as a writer. He also attended USC during those years.
In the early years of the Great Depression, continual poverty forced Trumbo to embark upon a brief criminal career. He was involved with check kiting and bootlegging for a short time. Writing was what he had wanted to do. While still working at the bakery (and doing some illegal activity) he wrote a piece about bootlegging, which was accepted by Vanity Fair.
