Jack London
John Griffith London arrived in San Francisco on the 12th of January 1876. His mother Flora Wellman worked as a music teacher and spiritualist while living with astrologer William Chaney. The couple never legally married, yet they cohabited during his conception. Flora later claimed Chaney demanded an abortion when she became pregnant. She refused and shot herself in desperation. The bullet did not kill her but left her temporarily deranged. After giving birth, Flora sent the baby to Virginia Prentiss for wet-nursing. Prentiss was a former slave who became a maternal figure throughout London's life. He would later call her his primary source of love and affection as a child. In late 1876 Flora married John London, a disabled Civil War veteran. The family moved around the San Francisco Bay Area before settling in Oakland. There London completed public grade school. The Prentiss family moved with them and remained a stable source of care. By 1897 London searched newspaper accounts for details about his mother's suicide attempt. He found the name of his biological father and wrote to William Chaney in Chicago. Chaney replied that he could not be London's father because he was impotent. He claimed Flora had relations with other men. London was devastated by this letter. He quit school at Berkeley shortly after.
London sailed toward Alaska on the 12th of July 1897 at age twenty-one. He joined the Klondike Gold Rush alongside his sister's husband Captain Shepard. The harsh conditions of the goldfields proved detrimental to his health. Like many malnourished miners he developed scurvy. His gums swelled until four front teeth fell out. A constant gnawing pain affected his hip and leg muscles. Marks on his face always reminded him of struggles faced in the Klondike. Father William Judge provided shelter food and medicine to London and others in Dawson. These struggles inspired his short story To Build a Fire published in 1902. Critics often assess this work as his best writing. His landlords Marshall Latham Bond and Louis Whitford Bond were mining engineers educated at Yale and Stanford respectively. They were active Republicans who sparred politically with London during camp pastimes. London left Oakland with socialist leanings but returned as an activist for socialism. He concluded his only hope of escaping the work trap was education. He saw writing as a business ticket out of poverty. On returning to California in 1898 he began working to get published. The Overland Monthly offered him five dollars for a story and paid slowly. London nearly abandoned his career before The Black Cat accepted A Thousand Deaths for forty dollars.
London made two thousand five hundred dollars from writing in 1900. This sum represented roughly one million dollars in today's currency. New printing technologies enabled lower-cost production of magazines. A boom in popular magazines created a strong market for short fiction. In early 1903 London sold The Call of the Wild to The Saturday Evening Post for seven hundred fifty dollars. Macmillan acquired book rights and propelled it to swift success through promotional campaigns. Among works he sold to magazines was a story known as Diable or Bâtard. He received one hundred forty-one dollars and twenty-five cents for this tale on the 27th of May 1902. The Cosmopolitan magazine first published it as Diable in June 1902. A cruel French Canadian brutalizes his dog in the story. The dog retaliates and kills the man. London told critics that human actions cause animal behavior. He demonstrated this famously in another story called The Call of the Wild. By 1910 eight American writers could command one thousand dollars per short story. London stood among Robert W. Chambers Richard Harding Davis O. Henry Booth Tarkington John Fox Jr Owen Wister and Mrs. Burnett. His rapid rise made him one of the first American authors to become an international celebrity.
London married Elizabeth Mae Bessie Maddern on the 7th of April 1900. The same day The Son of the Wolf was published. Bess had been part of his circle of friends for years. She tutored Jack in preparation for entrance exams at Berkeley in 1896. Their first child Joan was born the 15th of January 1901. Their second child Bessie Becky arrived the 20th of October 1902. Both children were born in Piedmont California. Here London wrote one of his most celebrated works The Call of the Wild. By 1903 the couple were close to separation due to extreme incompatibility. London complained to friends Joseph Noel and George Sterling about his wife's fears. These code words suggested Bess feared he consorted with prostitutes. On the 24th of July 1903 London told Bessie he was leaving and moved out. Divorce terms were negotiated during 1904 before the decree granted the 11th of November 1904. After divorcing Maddern London married Charmian Kittredge in 1905. Charmian was five years his senior and introduced by her aunt Netta Eames. They became lovers after visiting Wake Robin resort in 1903. London fell from a buggy and Charmian cared for him. Their relationship developed into romance while politically aligned with socialist causes.
London purchased a ranch in Glen Ellen Sonoma County California in 1905. He called it next to his wife the dearest thing in the world. Writing became even more commercial as a means to an end. He stated he wrote books to add three or four hundred acres to his estate. He conceived a system of ranching praised today for ecological wisdom. The ranch featured the first concrete silo in California. He hired Italian and Chinese stonemasons whose styles remain distinct. London spent eighty thousand dollars building Wolf House stone mansion. Two weeks before planned move-in the mansion burned down completely. Sympathetic observers treat projects as potentially feasible but failed due to bad luck. Unsympathetic historians suggest he was a bad manager distracted by other concerns. Kevin Starr notes London was absent about six months yearly between 1910 and 1916. Workers laughed at efforts to play big-time rancher calling it a rich man's hobby. His last visit to Hawaii began December 1915 lasting eight months. He returned to ranch suffering kidney failure yet continued working. The ranch is now a National Historic Landmark protected in Jack London State Historic Park.
London died the 22nd of November 1916 in a sleeping porch cottage on his ranch. He suffered from dysentery late-stage alcoholism and uremia. Extreme pain led him to take morphine and opium common over-the-counter drugs. His ashes were buried on property not far from Wolf House remnants. Funeral took place the 26th of November 1916 attended only by close friends relatives and workers. In accordance with wishes he was cremated and buried next pioneer children under rock belonging to Wolf House. Charmian later died 1955 and was also cremated then buried with husband. Grave marked by mossy boulder. Many older sources describe death as suicide due to morphine use. This conjecture appears rumor or speculation based on fiction incidents. Death certificate gives cause as uremia following acute renal colic. Biographer Clarice Stasz writes biographical myth developed portraying him as alcoholic womanizer who committed suicide. Recent scholarship challenges this caricature using firsthand documents. Most biographers including Russ Kingman agree he died of uremia aggravated by accidental morphine overdose. Fiction features several suicides including Martin Eden drowning himself. London claimed drunkenly stumbling into San Francisco Bay as youth nearly succeeded before rescue.
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Common questions
When and where was Jack London born?
John Griffith London arrived in San Francisco on the 12th of January 1876. His mother Flora Wellman worked as a music teacher while living with astrologer William Chaney during his conception.
What health issues did Jack London suffer from during the Klondike Gold Rush?
London developed scurvy which caused four front teeth to fall out due to swollen gums. He also suffered constant gnawing pain affecting his hip and leg muscles from harsh conditions.
How much money did Jack London make from writing in 1900?
London made two thousand five hundred dollars from writing in 1900. This sum represented roughly one million dollars in today's currency.
Why did Jack London join the Socialist Labor Party in April 1896?
London joined the party at age twenty after searching newspaper accounts for details about his mother's suicide attempt and finding his biological father unresponsive. He concluded his only hope of escaping the work trap was education and saw socialism as a path forward.
Who were Jack London's wives and when did he marry them?
Jack London married Elizabeth Mae Bessie Maddern on the 7th of April 1900 and later married Charmian Kittredge in 1905. Charmian was five years his senior and introduced by her aunt Netta Eames.
What caused Jack London's death on the 22nd of November 1916?
London died from uremia following acute renal colic aggravated by an accidental morphine overdose. His ashes were buried on property not far from Wolf House remnants.