Jack London, Author, Farmer and Friend of the Earth


guide for the morning said with a smile. I admitted that I didn’t know that the legendary author, Jack London, had ever lived in Sonoma. As we drove to Jack London State Park on a cold Wednesday morning, she continued, “The fog today will add to the magic of this place.” Suddenly, I found myself intrigued and Sally’s enthusiasm to be contagious. As we started our three mile hike


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into the countryside, past fields filled with rows of vines and hills of coastal red woods, I learned how London became an advocate for what he described as “130 acres of the most beautiful, primitive land to be found


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ou are going to love this place since you like to write,” Sally, my hiking


in California.” London had decided to settle down in the Sonoma Mountains in 1905, purchasing a winery and acreage for just $7,000 to escape city life and concentrate on his writing. As we continued walking past


the ruins of the old winery, I marveled how the author wasn’t content with writing novels alone, so he taught himself farming and agriculture. When he cleared 40 acres to raise hay, he discovered the land had been depleted by “old-fashioned methods of taking everything off and putting nothing back.” And so, Jack London became passioned about what we would call “organic farming” today. He wanted to “leave the land better for my having been,” he said. Many structures including silos,


barns and the cottage where London and his wife lived until his death in 1916, still stand at this historic state park. I can’t help but think that London would approve and welcome visitors to this place that he cared for over the years and fondly called “Beauty Ranch.” Note: Spring Management Meeting attendees can arrange for daily hiking tours with the Fairmont Hotel staff.


February 2018 ❘ 15


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