Jack London's great granddaughter heeds the call of the Klondike

Tarnel Abbott, an activist and retired librarian, did not always embrace the legacy of her legendaryforebear, authorJack London.

"It is something that I kind of grew into in more recent years," she said from Dawson City, Yukon, where she's participating in this weekend's Jack London Festival.

It's the first time she's been to Yukon.

"It took me a while to understand the legacy, and how important it is."

Her visit to Dawsonis likely to deepen that appreciation London is easily the most well-known and celebrated stampeder to have reached the Klondike, a century ago.

His Yukon-inspired stories, among them The Call of the Wild,White Fang, andTo Build a Fire, are classics of American fiction, and countless tourists arrive in Dawson every summer with copies stashed in their RVs, canoesor backpacks. Legions of fans make the pilgrimage from Germany, and Japan.

They typically visit the Jack London Cabin and museum, where there's a replica of his gold rush cabin. They might even stop for a bite at the Jack London Grill. And, when they pass through Whitehorse, they can stop for a picture at the Jack London bust on Main Street.

Dawson 'a little more authentic'

"It's kind of thrilling, you know," Abbott said as she took in some sights in Dawson this week,"very charming."

She lives in the epicentre of all things Jack London Oakland, Calif., where London alsolived foryears. Oakland also has a replica of his gold rush cabin, and aJack London Square that's a commercial hub.Abbott prefers Dawson's lower-key embrace of his legacy.

"There's something a little more authentic up here that I appreciate," she said. "He's less commercialized."

One of the things that's most intrigued her is Yukon's First Nations heritage. She said many of London's stories addressed "that culture clash of first contact."

"And I would be very curious to know how those stories are viewed by the people today, the First Nations people. Because I think, by and large, Jack was sympathetic to the aboriginal population."

Abbott has alreadyvisited the Dawson's Jack LondonCabin and museum ("sweet"), and had plans for a boat trip on the YukonRiver. She even bought a Dawson CityT-shirt"had to prove I was here, you know!"

London's political bent

This weekend, she'll be talking about London and his work at the Jack London Festival, commemorating the 100th anniversary of the author's death.

"If they want me to speak, I'll speak my mind," she said, earlier this week.

For Abbott, a long-time community activist in Oakland,that means talking not just about London's brief Klondike sojourn, but his life-long socialistbent. Many of London's works (such as The Iron Heel andPeople of the Abyss) vividly reflect his politics.

Abbott has a particular fondness for The Iron Heel,a classic dystopian novel about the rise of tyranny in the U.S., "because of its political relevance to our times, in the United States."

She's been a supporter of Democratic presidential hopefulBernie Sanders, and says she'sterrified of "the opposition, especially in the form ofthat guy with the funny hair."

"If he happens to win, I might be heading north to Canada, myself," she joked.

In the meantime, she's happy to be a visitor, and tohave been invited to the festival.Shehopes to come back to Dawson,next time with some relatives.

"Once you have been in the geographical location, certainly it effects your imagination when you're reading a story in that setting.

"Of course, I'm not here in winter!"

Dawson City's Jack London Festival, celebrating the author'slife and work,includes talks, readings and film screenings. It runs until Sunday afternoon.