Spoken by Jack London and truly, he lived by this credo. He was born into poverty in San Francisco on July 12, 1876 to an unwed mother, spent years of his youth delivering newspapers, hauling ice, setting pins in a bowling alley, and sweeping out saloons. At 15 he borrowed enough money to buy a boat and became known as the ‘Prince of the Oyster Pirates’, then having second thoughts about a life of piracy became a deputy for the CA Fish Patrol. Next, wanting more adventure he signed on as an able bodied seaman for a trip to Japan followed by a stint as a rider of the rails at 18 and a Klondike gold prospector at 21. By 27 he was an internationally acclaimed author. At 31 he sailed into the South Seas with his wife and a crew of 4 but were turned back by disease and a leaky boat. He then became a model farmer in northern California only to die at the age of 40 having written more than 50 books, short stories, newspaper articles, treatises about sustainable farming and other subjects.
In the meantime he married first Bessie Maddern and though they admitted that were not in love, thought that they could have ‘sturdy’ children. They did have two children but later got divorced. London then married Charmian Kittredge in 1905. In her he found a true soul mate, someone with the same love of adventure and desire to see the world that he had.
If you’ve seen pictures of people from the early part of the 20th Century, you know that people dressed in their best dark woolen clothes and did not smile for the camera. I’ve seen pictures of my relatives from that era and it looks as if they’ve just swallowed soap. Well, the pictures of Charmian and Jack are of two people having fun, mugging for the camera and dressed in what they had on at the time.
It’s definitely time to get out of the house - I’ve been housebound too long and, as long as I’ve got my pain pills, I’m ready for adventure. Since the Jack London State Historical Park is just up the road, we’re on our way. I’m thinking that I can walk around the farm and grounds. Whew, it will be great to get out walking and out into the world. Too many days spent in the RV.
The Jack London State Park is composed of several parts, a house called the House of the Happy Walls where his wife, Charmian, lived after his death which is now a museum devoted to Jack London, the farm, called Beauty Ranch where he practiced his subsistence agriculture, Wolf House, a house which London designed but which burned to the ground a month before he and his wife were supposed to move in and the grounds with his gravesite and which also have several trails as most state parks do. We began with the House of Happy Walls, the museum.
The Museum contains many mementos about his life and his travels.
Even something from Iowa.
There is also a collection of his first editions of his novels.
One room in the museum was devoted to the trip he and his wife took to sail around the world in a custom-built boat called the Snark.
He was so impatient to begin the journey that they left before the Snark was finished, deciding to finish up in Hawaii.
They planned a trip of 7 years but with a leaky boat and an inexperienced crew they only got as far Indonesia when the crew was overtaken by malaria and yaws. At that time the main treatment for yaws was a mixture of mercury chloride which London rubbed into his sores. He developed severe dermatitis and swelling of his hands, feet, cheeks and nose. He described this in his book The Cruise of the Snark, "On occasion my hands were twice their natural size, with seven dead and dying skins peeling off at the same time. There were times when my toe-nails, in twenty-four hours, grew as thick as they were long." The topical mercury was absorbed in large amounts systemically and over time he developed irreversible kidney failure and died. Truly a cure worse than the disease.
We then headed down to Wolf House. Wolf’ was Jack London’s nickname and this was to be his dream house.
Because London had visited San Francisco right after the earth quake he wanted his home to be not only earthquake proof but fireproof. It was built on a concrete slab with walls of fieldstone and redwood beams. It was designed to take advantage of natural light with large windows in its 26 rooms and had 9 fireplaces for warmth.
Unfortunately it was destroyed by fire shortly before they London’s were scheduled to move in. A farm hand saw the glow but by the time the Londons got there on horseback, the house was gone and only the walls remained. Some suspected arson but most forensic experts think that it was spontaneous combustion from the pile of linseed rags that had been used to wipe down the woodwork. Today it is a silent ruins slowly being taken over by the forest which surrounds it.
Thus two great dreams of London had disappeared: his dream to sail around the world in his own boat and his dream house.
Close to the ruins of Wolf House are Jack and Charmian London’s gravesite. There were many theories as to why Jack London died. Many thought he died of drink. Some thought he died of drugs. But, the most common theory is that he died mostly of kidney poisoning combined with a life of hard drinking, chain smoking and poor eating habits (his favorite meal was raw duck.)
Jack knew the small knoll which is located along the trail between the Museum and the Wolf House Ruin. He once remarked to his wife Charmian and his sister Eliza:
'I wouldn’t mind if you laid my ashes on the knoll where the Greenlaw children are buried. And roll over me a red boulder from the ruins of the Big House.'
On November 26, 1916, in a silent ceremony, Charmian London placed her husband’s ashes on the chosen knoll under a large rock from the Wolf House. After she passed away in 1955, Charmian’s ashes were laid under the same rock, next to Jack.
Yes he was an adventurer but is as an author that he is remembered. He was the most popular and highest paid American author of his day; the first American writer to earn a million dollars. Of the 50 books and hundreds of essays authored by Jack London, Call of the Wild, White Fang, and others have been translated into over 70 languages. London is also famous for his adventures, world travels, as an innovator, social activist, artist, philosopher and for his pioneering farming experiments with sustainable agriculture as early as 1906.
But his farming is another story.
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