About Jack London

Jack London was born on January 12, 1876 in San Francisco, California. His father, W. H. Wellman, was a soldier, scout, backwoodsman, trapper, and wanderer. Jack's family was very poor so he had to get a job at the age of ten. Jack took the name of his stepfather and became Jack London.

Jack sold newspapers on the streets before going to school. After school he sold the evening newspaper. All the money he earned selling papers went to support his family.

At the age of 15 Jack left home and school. By age 17 he found a job on a sealing schooner to hunt seals off the coasts of Japan and Russia. By age 20 he moved to the Klondike to prospect for gold. At age 26 Jack was a reporter for the Hearst newspaper chain.

Jack began writing each morning. He would write a 1000 words. Jack had an ability to recognize when he had reached this limit and would often stop in the middle of a sentence.

From 1907 to 1910, Jack began a round-the-world trip on his yacht, the Snark. On this trip he and his wife came down with a fever they had contracted in the islands they had visited. He had to return to the San Francisco Bay area to recover from this fever. At this time he began building his ranch and spent much time on horseback.

Jack wrote more than 50 books in the early 1900's including both fiction and non-fiction, hundreds of short stories, and numerous articles on a wide range of topics. Some of the most popular books are White Fang (1905) and The Call of the Wild (1903).

Jack London died in Santa Rosa in 1916 at the age of 40.