Jack London was born on January 12, 1876, in San Francisco, California. He rose from poverty and a brief career as an oyster pirate and Klondike gold prospector to become one of the best-selling and highest-paid authors of his era, famous for adventure fiction rooted in his own hard experience.
London's childhood offered no hint of literary fame: he worked in a cannery at age thirteen, sailed as a seal hunter, and briefly served time for vagrancy while riding the rails as a hobo. It was the Klondike Gold Rush of 1897 that gave him the raw material for his greatest work, though he found little gold and returned home with scurvy instead.
He published 'The Call of the Wild' in 1903, a slim novel about a dog's transformation from pampered pet to wild sled-leader, which became an immediate sensation and remains one of the most widely read American novels ever written. He followed it with 'White Fang' and dozens of other works, writing at a furious pace, reportedly producing 1,000 words a day no matter his circumstances.
London became one of the first American authors to become a millionaire from writing alone, embracing socialism, war correspondence, and yacht voyages across the Pacific. He died in 1916 at just 40, his body worn down by disease, alcohol, and the relentless physical life he had always sought out.
Key people: Jack London