London, Joan, 1948-

Joan London was born in Oakland, California, in 1901, to Jack London (1876-1916) and his first wife, Elizabeth Maddern London. She began a career in writing early in life with a series of newspaper and periodical articles in the 1920s. From 1926-1927, her novel, Sylvia Coventry, was published as a serial within the Oakland Tribune. In the late 1930s, Joan London began compiling information on the life and work of her father, material that she would use in writing his biography, Jack London and his times (1939). Until shortly before her death, she had been at work on a book detailing her relationship with her father and her experiences in a single-parent home, a work tentatively titled Visiting rights only. London also dedicated her time and energy to furthering political causes (most especially the labor movement), and for more than twenty years she was the librarian for the California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO. With Henry P. Anderson, she wrote a history of the farm labor movement entitled So shall ye reap (1971). She passed away in Oakland on January 19, 1971.

London is the daughter of Calif. author Jack London. She is the author of a biography of her father called Jack London and his times, published in 1939.