One hundred years ago, Jack London was a celebrity. Not only was he one of the most popular and highest-paid novelists of his day, but also he was widely known as a political lecturer, socialist, adventurer, sailor, world traveler, farmer, and charismatic media-magnet. As one of the first authors to use his fame to endorse advertising products, London was comfortable in the spotlight. His books were widely known and continue to be internationally popular today.
 
London was born in 1876 in Oakland, California to a single mother who eventually remarried. He developed a taste for travel and adventure at a very young age. By the time he started high school, young Jack had already worked in a cannery, sailed for Japan on a sealing ship, traveled around the country and spent 30 days in a New York jail for vagrancy. And that was just the beginning of a lifetime of adventure. His next trip, after high school in 1897, was to the Yukon in search of gold and soon afterward his creative energies poured forth. Returning to California, he began to concentrate on writing, forcing himself to write 1,000 words a day. By 1899 his stories were being published in the Atlantic Monthly and other magazines.
 
With such an interesting history, it is no surprise that London's personal experiences are believed to have inspired some of his best work. Call of the Wild (1903), White Fang (1906), and the short story "To Build a Fire" (1910) stem in part from his time in the Yukon. His novel, Sea Wolf (1904), was inspired from his time at sea. But he also used newspaper clippings as sources for his fiction. Remembered primarily for his classic novels, London published over 50 volumes in his lifetime, including many short stories and essays.
 
Though he continued to travel, London became very involved with his ranch in Glen Ellen, California in his later years, and after 1911 it began to take up most of his time. In his late 30's he developed a kidney ailment and died of renal failure in 1916 at age 40. Though this is the cause of death listed on his death certificate, some biographers maintain that he died from an intentional overdose of morphine.
 

Articles About London, Jack

The Spell of the Yukon: Jack London and the Klondike Gold Rush	February 6, 2007
When the steamer, Portland, docked in Seattle on July 17, 1897, people were just sitting down to their breakfasts, unaware that this day would be any different from the one before. An enterprising reporter for the Post-Intelligencer knew differently. He had already been on board the Portland and he knew that she carried two tons of gold from the Canadian northwest. GOLD! GOLD! GOLD! GOLD! screamed the headline that morning, in a cry that would soon be echoed around the world. It was welcome news to a nation grappling with a severe economic recession.
Jack London's Korea	February 6, 2007
In the ways that some writers are remembered for their writings and ramblings in certain corners of the earth, Jack London's name evokes images of the Yukon, California locales, and the South Seas. Yet one of London's most adventurous forays abroad is a small footnote in his literary achievements. London covered the Russo-Japanese War as a correspondent in Korea.
Jack London: The American Karl Marx	February 4, 2007
Called the "Boy Socialist: and the "American Karl Marx," Jack London succeeded so well as a writer under the capitalistic system that he could afford to build a "palace for his pigs," to popularize the sport of surfing, and to show off his bridge of artificial teeth to huge crowds. In addition to being one of the highest paid writers of his time, Jack London also ran for Mayor of Oakland twice and was pushed to run for the presidency -- all on the Socialist ticket.
The House That Jack Built - The Beauty Ranch	February 4, 2007
I am ... only just now beginning my first feeble attempts at building a house for myself. That is to say, I am chopping down some redwood trees and leaving them in the woods to season against such a time, two or three years hence, when they will be used in building the house. Jack London Feb. 3, 1911