Contents
Jack London
Writing The Call of the Wild and White Fang.
The Call of the Wild · White Fang
- Born
- 12 January 1876
- Birthplace
- San Francisco, USA
- Died
- 22 November 1916
More people
Jack London
Jack London was an American novelist and journalist whose working life and travels fed stories of survival, class and ambition. The Yukon, the Pacific and his California ranch recur throughout his writing.
Early life
Oakland upbringing
Grew up in a working-class household and took factory and waterfront jobs.
Self-education
Read widely at public libraries and briefly attended the University of California, Berkeley.
Career
- 1897–1898
Klondike journey
Travelled north during the gold rush, gathering material for later stories.
- 1899–1903
Professional writer
Began selling stories and achieved a major success with The Call of the Wild.
- 1900s
Reporter and traveller
Reported on poverty and war while writing novels and sailing the Pacific.
- 1910s
Ranch and writing
Combined an extensive writing schedule with experiments in farming at Beauty Ranch.
Selected work
The Call of the Wild
A domestic dog adapts to the brutal demands of the Yukon.
White Fang
A wolf-dog’s life moves between the wild and human society.
Martin Eden
A working-class man pursues literary success.
Beyond work
Partnership
Married writer and traveller Charmian Kittredge in 1905.
Beauty Ranch
His Sonoma Valley home and agricultural projects became part of Jack London State Historic Park.
Sources & photo credit
Life and career ↗Institutional or specialist reference ↗Photo: published by L C Page and Company Boston 1903. Public domain · Original image. Cropped and displayed in monochrome.
