Essays Contents
Jack London
January 28, 2023
Jack London's wife, Charmian, wrote the book
that the movie "Jack London" was based on.
Charmian was an educated and professional woman
and a modern independent character in her own right.
She was involved with the Arts and Crafts community of her time.
In this movie... young Jack's "family" is a black woman...
who he always calls "Mammy Ginny."
(She is seen even after Jack becomes rich and famous.)
The movie begins with Jack working at a machine shop
where one of the girls had her hands crushed in a machine.
Jack says to Ginny...
"It could have been my fingers, just as easily as that girl's.
Lots of times I've almost dozed off and just caught myself in time.
It's the rotten air, and the noise that never stops.
Twelve hours a day... beating in your brain...
for ten cents... ten cents an hour."
Ginny says, "Oh, I know honey...
but things are bad all over."
He says, "It isn't that, Mammy Ginny...
it's just that people like us... poor people...
have to work in filthy holes just to exist...
and that other people... rich people...
can have everything they want...
buying clothes and carriages... and not only things...
but time... time to live and time to think...
and time to learn.
That's what I want, Mammy Ginny... time."
from the movie, "Jack London"
In my essay "Audiobooks" I gave links to the Jack London books
"Call of the Wild" and "White Fang" as I had enjoyed reading them.
In fact, I've listened to many of Jack London's stories.
I am aware that he was known as a "Socialist"...
and so, I wondered what someone who might read my essay
would think about my referring readers to a socialist writer.
I tried to remember anything in his stories that was "socialist."
What came to mind... was a story titled "Burning Daylight"...
a story about a man who got rich in the Alaska gold rush.
His name was Burning Daylight.
Rumor has it that this story was loosely based on a real man.
Wikipedia:
"Burning Daylight", the main character, is partially based
upon the life of Oakland entrepreneur "Borax" Smith,
but named for Elam Harnish (1866-1941)".
If I remember correctly, being years ago... the story goes like this...
when the man returned to California, he was approached by
several men of great wealth from New York City...
who convinced the man to invest his money with them.
When he realized that he had been robbed...
he traveled to New York City to meet with them.
When all were gathered together... the rich men in jest...
Burning Daylight took out his gun...
and damn well got his money back.
That's all from memory, of course.
Now, while I was ruminating on this subject...
the news turned towards the annual meeting of the WEF...
The World Economic Forum... (elitists who decide our future).
My plate was being set with all these questions...
you know, how rich men like to steal from poor people...
and the corrupting influence of power... greedy power...
and... I wanted to refresh my memory of London's stories.
I listened to the audiobook of "White Fang."
This is the story of the adventures of a legendary wolf...
and London tells much of it from the wolf's perspective.
However... the book begins... by telling the frightful story
of two men delivering the body of a wealthy young man
to a fort where it can be shipped to his family.
They are running it on a six-dog dog sled... in deep winter.
The two men are stalked by a gang of hungry wolves...
and they are low on ammunition.
One by one... their dogs are being drawn away... by a she-wolf.
When one of the men tries to rescue one of the dogs...
he, too, is caught in the traps set by the wolves.
When the remaining man sees his inevitable end...
he hangs the casket from a tree... out of reach...
and braces... in total exhaustion... for the wolves to come.
He sees the faces of the hungry, drooling wolves... close by.
He falls asleep... accepting whatever fate there might be...
when he realizes the wolves have run away...
at the approach of several dog sleds... out from the fort.
White Fang... is the offspring... of the she-wolf.
I did not finish listening to the entire book... very lengthy...
but I did a bit of research on Jack London...
and discovered, to my surprise...
that he was connected to Bohemian Grove.
And then, I saw that there was a movie... called "Jack London."
The movie showed London as a newspaper reporter...
and especially... as a foreign correspondent... and war reporter...
in South Africa, the Boers War? and Japan.
His peers in Japan considered him one of their bravest.
London sneaked into active battle to get his story.
In doing that... he befriended a famous Japanese General.
The Japanese General told him stories
of his plans for eventual world domination...
and he bragged about how "the rising sun"
would one day rule the world.
At some point in my research... I wondered...
did Jack London use his stories to report on corruption in the world?
One of Jack's quotes was that he was short on story ideas...
but long on the telling of the story once he got the idea.
I looked for clues... about Bohemian Grove... and socialism.
I found an online album of his photographs... just one.
Some Friends and Bohemian Grove 1904
Porter Garnett, George Sterling, and novelist Jack London
pose for a portrait at the Bohemian Grove in the early 1900s.
The image was published along with Porter Garnett's story,
"Forest Festivals of Bohemia," in the Pacific Monthly Sept 1907
The poster at the right says, "The White Silence."
A
t some point in the history of Bohemian Grove...
which had been created by the newspaper industry
as a retreat for writers, painters, and philosophers...
the power players began taking over the retreats.
But... as I saw in Jack London's photo album...
even in 1904... there was a weirdness at the retreats...
reminding me of Illuminism... and a pagan cult...
~~~~~ pictures from Jack's album with their captions ~~~~~
Humorous composed scene of Cloudesley Johns
playing chess with a skeleton seated in a chair #61
(There were several skeleton pictures, dancing, fighting)
Bohemian Grove "Palace of Art"
sign reads "Great is advertising" #24
Bohemian Grove dining area. Bird's eye view of dozens of men
seated at long tables arranged in three circles within each
other, in a large clearing between redwoods. #22
men swimming at Bohemian Grove #23
no caption was given #89
Porter Garnett and Bohemian Grove poem. He is looking up
at a paper hanging on a tree, illustrated with portrait of Garnett and
a humorous poem. He props up a wooden sign written in Greek. #28
Portrait of a man dressed as Apollo with blonde wig and
a long archery bow, possibly costumed for the Grove play
"Hamadryads," performed in August of 1904 #30
Subject is possibly costumed for the Grove Play "Hamadryads" #29
woman tied her nose back with string #37
Bohemian Grove High Jinks. A group of men sit on the ground
around a wooden table laid with a man wrapped in a sheet
(his hands look as if they are bound with ropes)
surrounded by champagne bottles corked with lit candles. A man in a
hooded robe stands at the head of the table with one arm lifted into
the air. Others lift their glasses in toast. #33
Jack London and rifle, 1916
It appears that people brought their children to retreats...
but the children in these pictures do not look happy... at all.
I wondered what Jack and Charmian really thought...
who both were creative spirits...
and who cared for animal welfare... and human welfare...
did I see any signs that they were appalled at what they saw?
It's possible to interpret things from pictures, I suppose.
Jack and Charmian built their own recluse... Beauty Ranch...
in Glen Ellen, California... where they built a grand house...
which burned down when they were away.
Charmian built a smaller version of their lodge...
where she lived after Jack died.
Their "Beauty Ranch" is now a national forest.
a young Jack, with his dog Rollo 1880
from the movie, "Jack London"
Porter Garnett, George Sterling, and novelist Jack London
pose for a portrait at the Bohemian Grove in the early 1900s.
The image was published along with Porter Garnett's story,
"Forest Festivals of Bohemia," in the Pacific Monthly Sept 1907
The poster at the right says, "The White Silence."
Humorous composed scene of Cloudesley Johns
playing chess with a skeleton seated in a chair #61
(There were several skeleton pictures, dancing, fighting)
Bohemian Grove "Palace of Art"
sign reads "Great is advertising" #24
Bohemian Grove dining area. Bird's eye view of dozens of men
seated at long tables arranged in three circles within each
other, in a large clearing between redwoods. #22
men swimming at Bohemian Grove #23
no caption was given #89
Porter Garnett and Bohemian Grove poem. He is looking up
at a paper hanging on a tree, illustrated with portrait of Garnett and
a humorous poem. He props up a wooden sign written in Greek. #28
Portrait of a man dressed as Apollo with blonde wig and
a long archery bow, possibly costumed for the Grove play
"Hamadryads," performed in August of 1904 #30
Subject is possibly costumed for the Grove Play "Hamadryads" #29
woman tied her nose back with string #37
Bohemian Grove High Jinks. A group of men sit on the ground
around a wooden table laid with a man wrapped in a sheet
(his hands look as if they are bound with ropes)
surrounded by champagne bottles corked with lit candles. A man in a
hooded robe stands at the head of the table with one arm lifted into
the air. Others lift their glasses in toast. #33
Jack London and rifle, 1916
a young Jack, with his dog Rollo 1880