Topic > Jack London - 918 | | magnificent splendor, rather than a sleepy and permanent planet. The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I will not waste my days trying to prolong them." This quote is a great example of how London loved adventure and was a colorful celebrity. He didn't spend all his time writing, but instead loved to relax and have fun. Jack London worked his way up from the factories and waterfront streets of West Oakland to become the highest-paid and most popular novelist and short-story writer of its kind. day. He wrote passionately and prolifically about the great questions of life and death and the struggle to survive with dignity and integrity. He wove these elemental ideas into high adventure stories based on his first-hand experiences at sea, in Alaska, or in the fields. and factories of California. Considered by many to be America's finest author, Jack London, whose birth name was John Griffith Chaney, was born on Market Street in San Francisco, California, on January 12, 1876. Before Jack was born, his true the father left the mother. As a child, Jack loved to go fishing on his little boat with his stepfather. Jack had little formal education. Initially, he only attended school until eighth grade. Over the next few years, Jack returned to Oakland High School and graduated. He eventually gained admission to UC Berkeley, but only stayed for six months because he said it was boring. Jack's many life experiences included: being a laborer, factory worker, oyster pirate in San Francisco Bay, member of the California Fish Patrol, sailor, railroad drifter, and gold prospector in the Klondike from 1897 to 1898. It is believed that these work experiences gave him the plots and settings for most of his stories. Jack also uses repetitive imagery as a way to describe the setting and characters. By following a strict writing regime of 1,000 words a day, Jack was able to produce an enormous amount of high-quality work over a period of eighteen years. Jack had become the best-selling, highest-paid, and most popular American author of his time. Fifty-one of his books, hundreds of short stories and numerous articles were published.