Jack London (1876- 1916)
Jack London grew up in poverty and supported himself working at a cannery, as an oyster pirate, and as a merchant seaman on a Pacific sealing expedition. He read constantly and pushed himself to write a thousand words a day, six days a week.
He was the highest paid novelist of his day, crediting his success as just pure hard work. His works include: The Call of the Wild, Sea-Wolf, Valley of the Moon, Martin Eden, and White Fang, in addition to dozens of stories and hundreds of articles.
Read Jack London's works on line at Wikisource, the free online library