Jack London Born January 12, 1876

London (1876-1916) was an illegitimate child, and spent his childhood in poverty in the Oakland slums. At the age of 17, he ventured to sea on a sealing ship. The turning point of his life was a thirty-day imprisonment that was so degrading it made him decide to turn to education and pursue a career in writing. He became the most successful writer in America in the early 20th Century. His vigorous stories of men and animals against the environment, and survival against hardships were drawn mainly from his own experience.

His years in the Klondike searching for gold left their mark in his best short stories; among them, The Call of the Wild, and White Fang. His best novel, The Sea-Wolf, was based on his experiences at sea. His work embraced the concepts of unconfined individualism and Darwinism in its exploration of the laws of nature.

London was a socialist and supporter of the workers movement, but like many socialists of his time, especially in the “settler nations,” he was prone to racism and was a populist rather than a communist. He retired to his ranch near Sonoma, where he died at age 40 of various diseases and drug treatments.