To the Yukon with Jack London
The Klondike Diary of Fred Thompson

Edited by David M. Hamilton

• Published by The Live Oak Press
• Approximately 150 pp.
• $TBA paperback
• This title is currently being rewritten.

The news of the great bonanza came to San Francisco on a hot July day in 1897. The French in the city were busy celebrating Bastille Day, while newspaper reporters were trying to put new life into the story of the day: a searing heat wave that already had lasted more than a week. A few reporters braved the heat down at the wharf, where the steamer Excelsior was in the process of docking. Once news of the ship's cargo hit the papers, many lives would be changed forever.

The next day, the news of Elcelsior's cargo hit page one of almost every newspaper in the San Francisco bay area. Excelsior contained gold! Drawings of a few of the nuggets were reproduced on the pages of the Chronicle to lend authenticity to the almost unbelievable stories of fantastic wealth to be had in the Klondike. Almost at once the heat wave was forgotten by the people of San Francisco. Yukon gold became the only topic of conversation, and many of the more adventurous souls ransacked the shelves of local merchants in search of goods and food for their outfits. The Klondike gold rush had begun.

This sometimes detailed diary, compiled by the brother of the deputy county clerk for Sonoma County, details the journey of writer Jack London to the gold fields of the Yukon. In addition to its biographical significance, Thompson's diary is also an important literary source. In it one can find the factual origins of such stories as "Like Argus of the Ancient Time." Certain incidents and people mentioned appear in such London articles and fictions as "Through the Rapids on the Way to the Klondike," The Call of the Wild, some of the Malemute Kid stories, and other tales of the northland saga. In the pages of Thompson's account one can see how the facts of biography are transmuted into literature and the stuff of which myths are made.

Although Thompson shows little literary flair, his diary captures the excitement and hardships of the journey to the Yukon, and his keen observations and accurate account enrich not only our understanding of the rush for gold but also of the men who made it and the rich vein of literature now being tapped and assayed in London's critical renascence.

For more information please e-mail us using the link on our home page.

Copyright © 2007, The Live Oak Press®, LLC. All rights reserved.
The Live Oak Press® is a registered US trademark. The Live Oak Press® with accompanying logo is a registered US and California trademark and servicemark.

[Home] [Books] [Production]
[Editorial] [Management] [Research] [Ordering]