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Jack London and the California Writers Club Centennial
By Susan M. Osborn
Jack
London was a key figure in founding the California Writers Club (CWC),
the oldest professional writing organization in the West. This year,
CWC members are celebrating their 100th anniversary with contests,
workshops, conferences and special programs for schools. A centennial
scrapbook was presented to the Bancroft Library at UC Berkeley.
London was born in 1876 in San Francisco to Flora Wellman, an unmarried mother,
and William Chaney, a journalist, lawyer and astrologer. Later that year, Wellman
married John London, a partially-disabled Civil War veteran. Because Wellman
was ill, her son was raised by an ex-slave. The family moved around the Bay Area
before settling in Oakland, where London completed grade school.
He dropped out of high school to hold a variety of manual labor jobs. The drudgery
of this work increased his enthusiasm for reading and writing. Ina Coolbrith,
a poet and librarian, recognized his capabilities. She provided selected reading
material to him, including works by Nietzsche. After studying socialism and presenting
numerous street corner orations, London became known as the “Boy Socialist
of Oakland.”
When he was 19 years old, he returned to complete his studies and graduate from
Oakland High School. He attended UC Berkeley, but withdrew due to a lack of funds.
When he was 21, he was among the first groups of men to leave for the Klondike
Gold Rush. He lived out the winter in a small cabin and suffered scurvy, but
gained valuable experience as a writer. His work began to appear in the Overland
Monthly and The Atlantic Monthly.
In 1900, at the age of 24, London married Bess Maddern, with whom he had two
daughters. In 1903, he published “The Call of the Wild,” a book that
brought him lasting fame.
He became involved in an affair with Charmian Kittredge, the persona for many
of his female characters, and he divorced Maddern. In 1905, he married Kittredge
and purchased a ranch in Sonoma County. After traveling extensively, they returned
to California.
In 1909, London began meeting with poet George Sterling, short story writer Herman
Whitaker and other writers. They founded the Press Club of Alameda.
In 1911, a faction of the Press Club membership split off to form the California
Writers Club, with Austin Lewis as the first president. CWC incorporated in 1913,
choosing the motto “Sail On!” from Joaquin Miller’s poem, “Columbus.”
The founders identified three purposes of CWC: to provide a forum for literary
criticism and recognition of achievement; to discover new authors and assist
them in developing their talent; and to sponsor educational meetings that promoted
professional growth.
In addition to London, Sterling, Whitaker, Lewis and Miller, early members of
CWC included John Muir and London’s mentor, Ina Coolbrith. (By this time,
Coolbrith had become California’s first poet laureate.)
In 1914, the first copy of “West Winds” was published. This hardcover
volume contained a collection of fiction written by CWC members and illustrated
by California artists.
On November 22, 1916, Jack London died at his ranch of renal failure at the age
of 40. During his lifetime, he experimented with many literary forms. He left
over 50 books of novels, stories, journalism and essays, many of which continue
to be read around the world.
Among the legacies London left is this creed: “I would rather be ashes
than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze
than it should be stifled by dry rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every
atom in me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The proper
function of (humans) is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying
to prolong them. I shall use all my time!”
In 1925, 31 people gathered at a formal affiliation dinner on Halloween at the
Senator Hotel in Sacramento. This gathering marked the formation of the Sacramento
Branch of CWC, the first offshoot of the original group, and resulted in dinner
meetings, study sessions and critique workshops convening on a monthly basis.
Annual events included potluck dinners, Christmas parties, celebrity luncheons
and the Sacramento Writers’ Showcase.
CWC now has 18 branches, many of which sponsor annual writers’ conferences.
On alternate years, each branch nominates one of its members to receive a Jack
London Service Award in recognition of contributions to CWC. The 2009 honoree
from the Sacramento Branch is Julie Bauer, webmaster and editor of the monthly
newsletter “Write On!”
This page and its contents ©2009
Metropolitan News Company, Inc.
