Jack London on the South Seas

Submitted by the Event Organizer

Professional lecturer and lifelong Jack London fan Dr. John Freedman will present a dynamic review of Jack and Charmian London’s South Pacific and Hawaii adventures and their rich literary legacy on August 6, 2023, at Jack London State Historic Park.

Dr. Freedman will set the stage with an interdisciplinary overview of the mighty Pacific and a look at the literary forebears that preceded and attracted the Londons to this storied region.

The focus will then turn to the voyage of the boat that Jack London designed and built, the Snark, and the two subsequent trips.  These rich South Seas adventures resonate with Alfred Kazin’s famous epitaph that “the greatest story Jack London ever wrote was the one he lived.”

These adventurous wanderings in Polynesia and Melanesia provided a creative canvas for a large component of literary output in the later years of London’s all-too-short life, including “The Cruise of the Snark,” “South Sea Tales,” “On the Makaloa Mat,” “Jerry of the Islands,” and many others.

Dr. John Freedman is an independent scholar and passionate world traveler who has explored over 160 countries on seven continents, with a special interest in destination-related topics that explore the literature, history, anthropology, and biogeography of specific regions. He has been a featured speaker for National Geographic, Smithsonian, the World Affairs Council, Yale Alumni Travel and numerous cruise ship and riverboat lines worldwide including Viking, Silversea, Seabourn, Regent, Oceania, and Ponant’s Le Paul Gauguin.

His presentations combine serious scholarship with an engaging presentation style and rich photojournalistic content gleaned from his own extensive photographic archives. A graduate of Brown University and Yale Medical School, Freedman practiced medicine in California for 34 years before retiring from his clinical practice in 2014 to pursue his passion for travel and teaching full-time. When not exploring faraway lands, he resides in Santa Rosa with his wife, Tina, a wine educator.

The event will take place at 2-3:30 p.m. on the second floor of the House of Happy Walls, the museum of Jack and Charmian London’s life in the Valley of the Moon.  The event space can be reached by stairway only.  For more information about access, call 707-938-5216.

Disclaimer: Please double check event information with the event organizer as events can be canceled, details can change after they are added to our calendar, and errors do occur.