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Jack London (1876-1916) He is one of the real spokesmen of the working class at the turn of the century. He, together with Stephen Crane (the red badge of Courage) and Tehodore Dreiser, is the main figure of Naturalism. He is the most outstanding self-taught writer And he is a man of adventure, a man of action His imagination and animation made him the most popular writer in America. His vigorous stories of men and animals against the environment, and survival against hardships were drawn mainly from his own experience. 6. 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 of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The proper function of man is to live, not exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them, I shall use my time. – Jack London 1876-1916Jack London (1876-1916), prolific American novelist and short story writer, whose works deal romantically with the overwhelming power of nature and the struggle for survival. His left-wing philosophy is seen in the class struggle novel The Iron Heel (1908). The memory of Jack Londons early life was etched and scarred by the bitterness of poverty. His family was continually on the move to find subsistence. At the age of ten the boy was on the street selling newspapers to supplement the familiys meager income. For fourteen years thereafter — until his first writing success at twenty-four — life was one vicious, downward cycle of toil, escape, toil, escape, toil. He became a work beast laboring in a cannery, a jute mill, a laundry, and shoveling coal in a power station. He worked for ten cents an hour, thirteen to fourteen hours a day, six and seven days a week. Is it any wonder that he saw life in terms of mans unending struggle against a ruthless nature? Is it any wonder that he saw in socialism a chance for the salvation of others as lost as he had once bee