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Jack London (born John Griffith Cheney)
American Author
London was an American novelist, journalist, and social activist. A pioneer in the then-burgeoning world of commercial magazine fiction, he was one of the first fiction writers to obtain worldwide celebrity and a large fortune from his fiction alone, including science fiction.
Some of his most famous works include The Call of the Wild and White Fang, both set in the Klondike Gold Rush, as well as the short stories "To Build a Fire", "An Odyssey of the North", and "Love of Life". He also wrote about the South Pacific in stories such as "The Pearls of Parlay" and "The Heathen", and of the San Francisco Bay area in "The Sea Wolf."
London was part of the radical literary group "The Crowd" in San Francisco and a passionate advocate of unionization, socialism, and the rights of workers. He wrote several powerful works dealing with these topics, such as his dystopian novel The Iron Heel, his non-fiction exposé The People of the Abyss, and The War of the Classes.
Additional contents of wikipedia article:
1 Family background 2 Early life 3 Gold rush and first success 4 First marriage (1900–1904) 4.1 Bohemian Club 5 Second marriage 6 Beauty Ranch (1905–1916) 7 Accusations of plagiarism 8 Political views 8.1 Socialism 8.1.1 Influence on writing 8.2 Racial views 9 Death 10 Works 10.1 Short stories 10.2 Novels 10.3 Apocrypha 10.3.1 Jack London Credo 10.3.2 The Scab 10.3.3 Might is Right 10.3.4 B. Traven 11 Bibliography 12 Legacy and honors 13 References 14 Further reading 15 External links
Deserted by his father, a roving astrologer, he was raised in Oakland, California, by his spiritualist mother and his stepfather, whose surname, London, he took. At age 14 he quit school to escape poverty and gain adventure. He explored San Francisco Bay in his sloop, alternately stealing oysters or working for the government fish patrol.
Astrologer and Writer, was living with Flora Wellman in 1874-1875 before the birth of her son John Griffith Chaney (the writer Jack London) on January 12, 1876 in San Francisco. The 55 year old William Chaney denied that he was the father of the child and separated from his common law wife in June of 1875 after learning of her pregnancy. In 1897 the young Jack London located his father who again denied his paternity.
Interesting Jack London Facts:
1876 |
January 12, 1876
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San Francisco, San Francisco County, California, United States
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1901 |
January 15, 1901
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Piedmont, Alameda County, California, United States
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1902 |
October 20, 1902
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Piedmont, Alameda County, California, United States
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1910 |
June 19, 1910
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Glen Ellen, Sonoma County, California, United States
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1915 |
June 1, 1915
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Oakland, Alameda County, California, United States
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1916 |
November 22, 1916
Age 40
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Glen Ellen, Sonoma County, California, United States
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Jack London State Historic Park Cemetery, 2400 London Ranch Road, Glen Ellen, Sonoma County, California, 95442, United States
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