Professor Jonah Raskin of Sonoma State University will discuss his new research on Jack London's life with Rosemary Manchester on her KRCB (90.9 or 91.9 FM) radio program "A Novel Idea" at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, July 12.
The conversation will begin with "White Fang," one of London's most unduringly popular books.
Raskin, chair of the Communication Studies department, has tackled tough subjects before - from Allen Ginsberg and Abbie Hoffman to B. Traven and Rudyard Kipling. Now he's writing a biography of London with a new way of looking at the American legend.
Jack London was a prolific writer of novels and short stories. Many of his books have remained in print since he wrote them a hundred years ago yet seldom can readers find him listed among the great American writers. His work is cherished by readers all over the world, and he has been translated into many languages.
Raskin says he will focus in his research on London's childhood and his earliest life - how much it shaped his personality and his work. "Readers tend to think of London as strong, optimistic, willful," says Raskin. "But there was what might be called the dark side of the man - vulnerability, loneliness, fear - that gave birth to his most emotionally powerful books."
Locally, there has been a surge of interest in Jack London. The Sonoma City Opera will present the World Premier of "Every Man Jack," an opera based on the life of Jack London, at the Green Music Festival in November. The Lifelong Learning Institute at Sonoma State University has scheduled a series of lectures on the man and his work for the fall semester.
For further information, visit http://www.krcb.org.
