Jack London, the iconic California writer, was born in Oakland in 1876. His history is part of my family lore; London appeared several times, on minor charges, in the courtroom of my great grandfather, an Alameda County judge. I’ve created murals about London in Oakland and Sacramento.

In January 1904, following London’s famous Klondike stories, William Randolph Hearst sent him to Korea to cover the war between Russia and Japan. Japan and the United Kingdom wanted to prevent Russian expansion; China was neutral. To reach Korea, London traveled by sampan around the south coast. His journals described his death defying odyssey.

February 11: “Wind howling over the Yellow Sea…made (land) at nightfall, after having carried away a mast and smashed the rudder…in driving rain, wind cutting like a knife.”

Read the rest at the Sacramento  Bee: 

http://www.sacbee.com/opinion/california-forum/article197295299.html