Jack London

Born: 12 January 1876 Birthplace: San Francisco, California Died: 22 November 1916 (uremic poisoning) Best Known As: Author of Call of the Wild Jack London was an early 20th-century writer closely associated with San Francisco and adventure. His most famous book by far is The Call of the Wild (1903), the story of a peaceful California dog named Buck who is kidnapped and shipped to the wilds of Alaska. The Sea-Wolf (1904) and White Fang (1906) also were major hits. London was famous in his day for his dashing lifestyle: among other things he designed and built his own ship, the Snark, and sailed it to the South Pacific. He also was known (much like Stephen King) for his steady and prodigious output of novels, articles and short stories. The author adopted the name of London from his step-father... A longstanding rumor has it that Jack London committed suicide, but evidence seems to indicate that he died of kidney failure combined with a possible overdose of morphine.