His name is Earle Labor. He is the distinguished Jack London scholar and is 91 years old. I've already had Earle on the podcast twice: first to discuss his historical biography of Jack London and second to discuss his own memoir, The Far Music. For this episode, I traveled to Earle's home in Shreveport, Louisiana, to speak with Earle about the overlooked literary genius of Jack London and the big themes London addresses in his novels and short stories. We begin our discussion with Earle's story of how he became a Jack London scholar and why London's work has been historically overlooked by scholars. We will then delve deeper into London's literary themes by first discussing how he used the Klondike as a symbolic testing ground for men and how success in this wilderness depended on one's ability to comply with Jack’s “Northland Code”. Earle uses excerpts from my favorite London story, "In A Far Country," as well as "To Build a Fire" and The Call of the Wild, to introduce the principles of this code as well as London's literary talent.
Earle then explains how London altered his themes later in his career with his agrarian writings, how his wife Charmian changed his perceptions of real women and his female characters, and the influence of psychiatrist Carl Jung on London's later works .
Consider this episode a masterclass in the literature of Jack London.
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