Jack London

John Griffith "Jack" London was born on 12 January 1876 in San Francisco. His mother, Flora Wellman, lived in Ohio but then moved to San Francisco where she worked as a music teacher. It also known that she was interested in spiritualism. Some biographers suppose that Jack London’s father was William Chaney who lived with Flora Wellman in San Francisco. It is not known if Flora and William were legally married. The house where Jack London spent his childhood was destroyed after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. In 1885 London read Ouida's long Victorian novel Signa. Jack London maintained that this book was the beginning of his literary career. In 1886 he became acquainted with Ina Coolbrith who was a librarian in the Oakland Public Library. She encouraged London’s learning. London at the age of nine with his dog Rollo, 1885

In 1889 he started working at Hickmott’s Cannery. His working day lasted 12 to 18 hours. Afterwards Jack London bought the sloop Razzle- Dazzle and became an oyster pirate. After a while he came to Oakland and entered Oakland High School where he started writing articles for the school’s magazine, The Aegis. The first work of London was “Typhoon off the Coast of Japan” in which he described his sailing experiences. In 1896 Jack London entered the University of California, Berkeley but because of financial difficulties he left the university in a year. Jack London spent a lot of time at Heinold’s saloon where he met Alexander McLean. He was a cruel captain whom the character Wolf Larsen in London’s novel is based. Jack London studying at Heinold's First and Last Chance in 1886

At the age of 21 Jack London joined the Klondike Gold Rush. This period of life was a basis for some of his popular stories but his health declined there. As a result London had the scurvy. All the events in the Klondike were an incitement for him to write a short story “To Build a Fire” which is considered one of his best. From 1898 Jack London started working intentionally to publish his writings. The first published work was “To the Man on Trail”. When London began his literary career the new printing technologies appeared. Consequently popular magazines became available for many people and in 1900 he could earn $2,500. In 1903 The Saturday Evening Post bought London’s work The call of the Wild for $750. In addition to that he sold the book rights to Macmillan for $2,000 and as a result London achieved a swift success. When London lived in Oakland he became acquainted with poet George Sterling who became his best friend. Sterling was described in London’s autobiographical novel Martin Eden as Russ Brissenden.

Jack London’s first marriage was in He married Elizabeth “Bessie” Maddern with whom he had two children: Joan and Bessie (later called Becky). But they divorced and London married Charmian Kittredge in They didn’t have children because the first child died at birth and the second pregnancy ended in a miscarriage. Jack London died November 22, There are a lot of different suppositions about London’s death. Some people consider that he could commit a suicide but his death certificate gives the cause as uremia. His ashes were interred in Jack London State Historic Park, in Glen Ellen, California. Jack with daughters Becky (left) and Joan (right) Bessie Maddern London and daughters, Joan and Becky

Novels Martin Eden is a 1909 novel by American author Jack London about a young proletarian autodidact struggling to become a writer. White Fang is a novel by American author Jack London (1876–1916) — and the name of the book's eponymous character, a wild wolfdog. The Call of the Wild is a novel by Jack London published in The story is set in the Yukon during the 1890s Klondike Gold Rush—a period when strong sled dogs were in high demand

Short story collections Lost Face is a collection of seven short stories by Jack London. It takes its name from the first short story in the book, about a European adventurer in the Yukon who outwits his (American) Indian captors' plans to torture him. The book includes London's best-known short story, "To Build a Fire". South Sea Tales (1911) is a collection of short stories written by Jack London. Most stories are set in island communities, like those of Hawaii, or are set aboard a ship.