Jack London

His Early Years

"I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet." - Jack London

Jack London's life challenges began before birth when his father denied paternity and abandoned the family while Jack's mother, Flora, was pregnant. Then, when Jack was born on January 12, 1876, in San Francisco, California, Flora, suffering from emotional instability, felt unable to care for her son. She arranged for a local woman who had recently lost her own newborn to raise Jack during his first year. Flora recovered and married a kind and gentle man during that time, and together they brought Jack back home. 

But the challenges continued. While Jack's parents were loving and wanted to provide him stability, they struggled financially and moved often. The family lived some in San Francisco, then in nearby Oakland, and eventually relocated to rural parts of the Bay Area as Jack's stepfather attempted to make a living as a farmer. This change didn’t go well for Jack, as he despised farm life, feeling stifled by its monotony. "The hills and valleys around were eyesores and aching pits," he wrote. Ironically, he would later crave and love nature as an adult.

When the farm failed, the family returned to Oakland, and Jack began working to help with the household finances. It was a grueling schedule for the young boy who wasn't even a teenager yet. "Up at three o'clock in the morning to carry papers. When that was finished I did not go home but continued on to school. School out, my evening papers. Saturday I worked on an ice wagon; Sunday I went to a bowling alley and set up pins for drunken Dutchmen," he later wrote to a friend, describing the routine.

His work life became more difficult as Jack took a job in a local cannery at the age of fifteen. The hours were hard, from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., with only a one-hour break. But even more challenging for Jack was the monotonous work. He did the same thing over and over all day. Exhausted and feeling trapped, Jack sought an escape.

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As a young boy, Jack developed two great loves. The first was for reading, his refuge from some of the difficulties of his upbringing. He devoured a wide array of literature from the local library. Jack's passion for books was matched only by a love for the water, where he found solace and the potential for new experiences. He would watch ships come and go around the San Francisco Bay Area, imagining the distant lands they visited and the adventures that awaited beyond the horizon.

With his frustrations of working at the cannery, Jack turned to this latter love for the water. He borrowed money from the woman who had cared for him as a baby and bought a small sailboat, the Razzle-Dazzle, from a local oyster pirate named "French Frank." Then, Jack joined the ranks of illegal oyster pirates, harvesting oysters from the bay under cover of night. Though the work was dangerous and involved frequent clashes with authorities, it gave Jack the excitement he craved and paid far better than his previous jobs. As he would write, "I made more money in one week than I do [at the previous job] in a year." This rough-and-tumble life also introduced Jack to a world of outlaws and seamen, who affectionately dubbed him "The Prince of the Oyster Pirates." Unfortunately, it was during this time that Jack began drinking, eager to prove himself among the men.