John Griffith "Jack" London was born on 12 January 1876 in San Francisco. His mother, Flora Wellman, lived in Ohio but then moved to San Francisco where she worked as a music teacher. Some biographers suppose that Jack London’s father was William Chaney who lived with Flora Wellman in San Francisco. The house where Jack London spent his childhood was destroyed after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. In 1885 London read Ouida's long Victorian novel Signa. Jack London maintained that this book was the beginning of his literary career. In 1886 he became acquainted with Ina Coolbrith who was a librarian in the Oakland Public Library. She encouraged London’s learning. In 1889 he started working at Hickmott’s Cannery. His working day lasted 12 to 18 hours. Afterwards Jack London bought the sloop Razzle-Dazzle and became an oyster pirate. After a while he came to Oakland and entered Oakland High School where he started writing articles for the school’s magazine, The Aegis. The first work of London was “Typhoon off the Coast of Japan” in which he described his sailing experiences. At the age of 21 Jack London joined the Klondike Gold Rush. This period of life was a basis for some of his popular stories but his health declined there. As a result London had the scurvy. The first published work was “To the Man on Trail”. London lived in Oakland he became acquainted with poet George Sterling who became his best friend. Jack London’s first marriage was in 1900. He married Elizabeth “Bessie” Maddern with whom he had two children: Joan and Bessie. But they divorced and London married Charmian Kittredge in 1905.Jack London died November 22, 1916.His ashes were interred in Jack London State Historic Park, in Glen Ellen, California.