Jack London (1876-1916) was an American novelist and journalist who worked as an oyster pirate, a sailor and a Klondike gold prospector before making a living by writing. The Yukon furnished The Call of the Wild (1903) and White Fang, which brought him an international readership and considerable wealth. A committed socialist, he also wrote reportage on poverty in London's East End and the dystopian novel The Iron Heel, and died at forty.