Who was the Oyster Pirate whose books became famous?

This was Jack London, the celebrated American author, who was born at San Francisco, January 12, 1876. His full name was John Griffith London (the surname of his stepfather). He was successively an oyster pirate, member of a fishing patrol and a seaman on a sailing vessel. He took part in the Klondike gold rush of 1897 and tramped through the United States and Canada.

Taking advantage of all his various experiences, he wrote a book of short stories in 1900 about the Far North, The Son of the Wolf. It was The Call of the Wild, though, that made him a best-selling novelist. The book was published in 1903. This was followed by The Sea Wolf in 1904 and White Fang in 1907, both very popular books. Meanwhile in 1905 he was a war reporter, covering the Russo-Japanese War. He was responsible for nonfiction books such as The War of the Classes and other volumes of a socialist. He was only 40 years of age when he died November 22, 1916.