2021 Jack London Society Symposium Program and Notes
The Jack London Society
15th Biennial Symposium
December 9-12, 2021
Sonoma Valley Inn
Symposium Director:
Kenneth K. Brandt, Savannah College of Art and Design
kbrandt@scad.edu
Symposium Organizers: Susan Nuernberg, Jay Williams, Aleta George, and Ken Brandt
Location: Best Western Sonoma Valley Inn and Krug Event Center, 550 2nd Street W Sonoma, California 95476
JLS Mask Policy for the 2021 Symposium requires attendees to wear masks whenever indoors at JLS functions. In the Krug Center, presenters may remove masks while presenting if socially distanced.
Thursday, December 9
Registration Krug Center: 9–10 am
10:00–10:55 am Krug Center: Blast Off! London, Clarke, and Kubrick: “The Red One” and 2001: A Space Odyssey
Moderator: Kenneth K. Brandt, Savannah College of Art and Design
- South Seas Insanity in Space: “The Red One” and 2001, Jay Williams
- Similarities in the Use of a Monolith as a Dramatic Element in Jack London’s “The Red One” (1918) and Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Richard M. Rocco, Samuel Merritt University
11:05 am–12:20 pm Krug Center: Jack London and Race
Moderator: Susan Nuernberg, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, Emerita
- “Teaching Jack London Post-Black Lives Matter,” Jeanne Reesman, University of Texas at San Antonio
- Jack London’s Life in a Racist Society, Lou Leal, Jack London State Historic Park
- “Two-Ness: A Theoretical Exercise in Biography and Social Criticism Jack London, W. E. B. Du Bois and Doubleness, Jonah Raskin, Sonoma State University
Lunch on Your Own
1:45–2:45 pm Krug Center: Into the Past: Looking Back on Jack London Scholarship Breakthroughs, Turning Points, and Pivotal Works
Moderator: Jay Williams, Independent Scholar
Kenneth K. Brandt, Savannah College of Art and Design
Clarice Stasz, Sonoma State University
Keith Newlin, University of North Carolina, Wilmington
Jeanne Reesman, University of Texas at San Antonio
Sara S. “Sue” Hodson, Huntington Library
2:55–4:10 pm Krug Center: Social Reform and Pirating
Moderator: Keith Newlin, University of North Carolina, Wilmington
- “What Kind of Socialist Was Jack London?,” Dan Wichlan, Independent Scholar
- Restoring the Withered Souls: John Ruskin, Jack London, and Social Reform, Sara S. “Sue” Hodson, Huntington Library
4:20–4:45 pm Krug Center: Fictional Interlude: Babe Ruth Meets Jack London
Moderator: Iris Dunkle, Napa Valley College
Plenary Reading:
“Jack and the Babe”
Dan Wichlan, Independent Scholar
SPECIAL EVENT Reception and Readings at Readers’ Books Bookstore (130 East Napa St.Sonoma, CA, 95476): Reception beginning at 6:00 PM with readings by Jack London Society Authors Dunkle, Williams, Reesman, and Brandt beginning at 6:30 PM
(Over for Friday–Sunday Schedule)
Friday, December 10
Registration Krug Center: Ongoing
9:00–10:20 am Krug Center: Jack London, the Sea, and Eros
Moderator: Jay Williams, Independent Scholar
- Dredging for Jack London, the Oyster pirate, Aleta George, Independent Scholar
- “London, Mann and Eros,” Joe Johnson, Independent Scholar
- “Jack London’s Contemporary: Travel Writer Norman Duncan,” Anita Duneer, Rhode Island College
10:30 am–11:50 pm Krug Center: Teaching Jack London and Other Writers
Moderator: Kenneth K. Brandt, Savannah College of Art and Design
Panelists:
Anita Duneer, Rhode Island College
Keith Newlin, University of North Carolina, Wilmington
Steven Frye, California State University, Bakersfield
Lunch on Your Own
JLS field trip to Jack London State Historic Park 1:45–5 PM
SPECIAL EVENT
8:00 pm Film Screening of Jay Craven’s Martin Eden at the Sebastiani Theater Jonah Raskin will interview Jay Craven after the film, which will be followed by an Q&A session with the audience. Tickets for the Martin Eden film can be purchased online here for $15 (or at the door—cash only, $15)
Saturday, December 11
10:00–10:55 am Krug Center: Climate Change and Drugs
Moderator: Sara S. “Sue” Hodson, Huntington Library
- “Climate Chechaquos: Jack London’s ‘To Build a Fire’ (1908), a Cautionary Tale of Climate Disaster,” Lincoln Reed, Ball State University
- Jack London’s Drug Use Determined by Non-Invasive Surface Analysis of Objects Owned by Him, Richard M. Rocco, Samuel Merritt University
10:05 am–11:00 pm Jack London Collections and New Scholarship
Moderator: Dan Wichlan, Independent Scholar
- The Earle Labor Jack London Collection at Southern Methodist University: Its Creation and Future, Thomas Harakal, Cambridge, Massachusetts
- “How Jack London’s Comments in 1904 Led to My Study of Korean Transnational Diasporas in Russian Far East and Manchuria,” Hye Ok Park, Claremont Graduate University
11:10 am–12:05 pm Charmian London: Biography and New Discoveries
Moderator: Clarice Stasz, Sonoma State University
- On the Sesquicentennial of Charmian’s Birth, Susan Nuernberg, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, Emerita
- “The Unfinished Business of Writing a Biography: Still Writing About the Life of Charmian Kittredge London,” Iris Dunkle, Napa Valley College
Lunch on Your Own
SPECIAL EVENT
Visit to Wake Robin and Reception at 3:00 PM for Pre-registered Attendees
Sunday, December 12
SPECIAL EVENT
Exclusive Jack London-themed tour of the Carquinez Strait aboard the Pacific Pearl guided by Jack London Society’s own Aleta George. We launch on Sunday, December 12, 2021, from Vallejo Yacht Club at 11 am. Please arrive by 10:30 am. The tour will last approximately 2 hours. (For preregistered attendees and guests.)
Dear JLS Symposium Attendees,
Please find attached the final program for the 2021 Symposium. Panel moderators can request introductory bios from presenters. If moderators need email addresses for your presenters, please let me know.
A few notes:
In the spirit of JLS solidarity, we can carpool to our two field-trip events in nearby Glen Ellen. Each is about a 20-minunte drive from Sonoma Valley Inn:
The Friday, Dec. 10, JLS field trip to Jack London State Historic Park, 1:45–5 PM
The Saturday, Dec. 11, visit to Wake Robin and Reception at 3:00 PM (until about 4:45 pm), at 4100 Wake Robin Drive
We will congregate in the front of the Sonoma Valley Inn 30 minutes before the start of each of these trips, board our various vehicles, and roll out. Many of you have already graciously volunteered to shuttle attendees in your cars. Periodic updates regarding the carpooling will be provided at the symposium. If you need to catch a ride with someone with a car, please let me know at kbrandt@scad.edu
Our two special events in Sonoma are within easy walking distance from the Sonoma Valley Inn: The Thursday, Dec. 9, Reception and Readings at Readers’ Books Bookstore (130 East Napa St., Sonoma, CA, 95476): Reception beginning at 6:00 PM with readings by Jack London Society authors beginning at 6:30 PM. The evening’s readings will feature Jeanne Reesman, Iris Dunkle, Jay Williams and Ken Brandt.
The Friday, Dec. 10, 8:00 pm Film Screening of Jay Craven’s Martin Eden at the
Important Note: Tickets for the Martin Eden film can be purchased online here for $15.Tickets also will be available at the door the night of the screening ($15 cash only purchase). We highly recommend buying tickets ahead of time in case the show sells out. The film’s director, Jay Craven, will participate in an interview with Jonah Raskin and a Q&A with the audience directly following the screening.
The Sunday, Dec. 12, Jack London-themed Guided Boat Tour, 11 am
We will also carpool to the Jack London-themed guided Boat Tour of the Carquinez Strait, Dec. 12, 11 a.m. departure (preregistration and payment required, $80). The drive from the Sonoma Valley Inn to the Vallejo Yacht Club is approximately 40 minutes.
The Vallejo Yacht Club address is 485 Mare Island Way, Vallejo, CA 94590. Attendees should plan to arrive by 10:30 am for an 11 a.m. departure. There is plenty of parking in the lot. Our guide, Aleta George, will get there by 10:15am and have manager Arv Voss open the gate. Passengers will walk down a ramp to the Pacific Pearl, which will arrive at 10:30 am.
Attendees should dress warmly. It will be very cold on the water. Gloves and head/ear/neck coverings are musts. There are about 10 places to sit in the cabin. Most will be outside. Wear non-skid shoes and please bring your own water.
JLS Mask Policy for the 2021 Symposium requires attendees to wear masks whenever indoors at JLS functions. In the Krug Center, presenters may remove masks while presenting if socially distanced.
Thanks! Let me know if you have any questions.
Kind regards,
Ken