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II WW –

More colourful than the first – spy network to monitor nazi sympathizers – along with a team of
waiters, fishermen, prostitutes, aristocrats and priests – requested supply of guns, grenades, machine
guns, radio etc – as for Martha, it was all an excuse to waste fuel and go drinking.

Nobel Prize

1960, H and Mary left Cuba for Idaho – a steep decline in physical and mental health – electroshock
therapy for paranoia and anxiety. His suicidal tendencies worsened and on July 2, 1961, shot himself
with his favourite shotgun.

Hemingway

Nearly fifty years after his death, Ernest Hemingway remains a commanding presence in the literary
world.  His works annually sell well into the seven figures, and several of his astounding 27 books and
50+ short stories are considered to be masterpieces of American literature.  Even the finest works of
fiction pale in comparison, however, to Papa Hemingway’s real life.  His exploits are legendary: 
winner of both the Pulitzer and Nobel Prizes, Bronze Star recipient, world class sports fisherman, big
game hunter, boxer, bullfighting aficionado, war correspondent…the list goes on. 

neither a gentleman, a good father, nor a proper example of manhood

Yet for all his flaws he represents an enigma of masculinity that so easily captures the imagination.  His
life was filled with the grand adventures that fill the dreams of many young boys and grown men alike.

Hemingway the Sportsman

As an accomplished outdoorsman, Hemingway was equally at home both stalking a lion through Africa’s
long grass and cruising the Gulf Stream in search of marlin and tuna. Hemingway had learned how to
handle a gun at a young age and was an accomplished hunter.  His interest in the sport varied between
pheasant and duck shooting out West to big game safaris in East Africa

Hemingway became quite the professional hunter.  The local game warden even left him temporarily in
charge of the district he was quartered in, commissioning him an honorary game ranger.  Hemingway
loved the post and spent most of his days sorting out problem lions and elephants at the request of the
local farmers.

Yet while Hemingway loved hunting, it was when he had a rod in his hand that he was truly successful. 
It was from the deck of the Pilar that Hemingway famously landed the largest marlin caught to date in
1935, weighing an astonishing 1175 lbs. Truly, his greatest exploit by his own reckoning may very well
not have been his literary achievements, but his success with rod and reel.  In an interview several years
ago, Hemingway’s son recalled that his father’s happiest days were always those spent aboard the boat
he made with his own hands, chugging along the Gulf Stream in search of marlin. During his years spent
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in the Caribbean, he managed to win every single organized fishing contest put on in Key West, Bimini,
and Havana, much to the chagrin of the locals.

Hemingway the Boxer

“My writing is nothing, my boxing is everything.”

Following one of his victories in a fishing tournament in Bimini, the locals who had participated became
angered at his ability to better fish waters they had fished their entire lives.  Seeing an opportunity to
combine his passions, he offered the locals a chance to win back their lost money.  The terms were
simple…go toe to toe with old Papa in the ring for three rounds and win, and the money would be
theirs.  The first challenger, a man who locals claimed could “carry a piano on his head,” made it only a
minute and a half before the 35 year old Hemingway put him on the deck.  The next three challengers
suffered a similar fate, and Ernest went home with his prize money.

Hemingway often dedicated his time not spent writing in Key West to boxing, even refereeing matches
at the local arena.  In one instance, he was presiding over a match where one fighter was being
brutalized by the other.  Every time the fighter would get knocked down, however, he would rise again
to take more of a beating.  Weary of seeing his fighter being abused so, the fighter’s manager, “Shine”
Forbes, threw in the towel.  Imagine his surprise when the ref picked up the towel and threw it out of
the ring!  Shine tried two more times to concede the match by throwing in the towel, and on the final try
the ref threw it back in his face, which sent Shine over the edge.  He climbed through the ropes and took
a punch at the ref, effectively bringing an end to the match.  Later that evening he was informed that
the ref he had thrown a punch at was none other than Ernest Hemingway, local legend and
internationally famous author.  Embarrassed, Shine went to Hemingway’s home to apologize and was
greeted by a smiling Hemingway who, not bothered by the punch thrown at him, had Shine and his
friends come in for some sparring in his personal ring. 

Hemingway the Storyteller

Hemingway the foodie

Ernest Hemingway had a huge appetite for life. Whether pounding away at his typewriter, deep sea
fishing off the Florida Keys, hunting from the mountains of the American West to the savannas of Africa,
or issuing journalistic dispatches and even running his own reconnaissance patrols on the frontlines of
war, he had a outsized hunger for a wide range of interests — and that included food itself.

Hemingway’s intimate connection to his food started early in his childhood. When he was just a young
boy, his father introduced him to the pursuits of hunting and fishing, as well as their ethics: Ernest had
to eat whatever he killed. For most sportsmen, such a rule is practical (and often delicious), especially
when the game consists of rabbits, venison, elk, and fowl, all of which Ernest consumed with gusto; he
had a particularly punctilious recipe for campfire-cooked trout. Yet he kept his father’s rule concerning
less common and conveniently cooked game as well, consuming everything from porcupine to snake to
lion.
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Though Papa found his solace in the wild, he also enjoyed the culinary comforts of civilization — like
dining out and sipping a nice wine or refreshing daiquiri. His posthumous masterpiece, A Moveable
Feast (1964), showcases Ernest’s appreciation for describing his meals. I remember serving up this
specific quote to my wife, to get her to come around to the joy of oysters:

As I ate the oysters with their strong taste of the sea and their faint metallic taste that the cold white
wine washed away, leaving only the sea taste and the succulent texture, and as I drank their cold liquid
from each shell and washed it down with the crisp taste of the wine, I lost the empty feeling and began
to be happy and to make plans.

Hemingway the Nazi Submarine Hunter

For nearly a year during World War II, Ernest Hemingway converted his 38 foot fishing boat Pilar into a
Nazi submarine hunting ship in disguise.  Coordinating with the Havana branch of the U.S. Office of
Naval Intelligence, Hemingway loaded the Pilar down with heavy artillery and small arms alike, all the
while maintaining the outward appearance of a standard fishing vessel. 

Hemingway the War Hero

As a young man, Hemingway served with the Red Cross on the Italian Front in World War I.  Originally,
he had sought to enlist in the Army, but poor eyesight barred his admittance, leading him to take a
position with the Red Cross as an ambulance driver instead.  Not long after arriving at the Italian Front
Hemingway was seriously wounded.  While delivering chocolates and cigarettes to soldiers on the line,
he was hit by trench mortar fire, leaving over two hundred shrapnel fragments in his leg and nearly
destroying his knee.  Despite this gruesome injury, Hemingway managed to drag another injured soldier
to safety, having stuffed the cigarettes he was carrying into his own wounds to temporarily stop the
bleeding.  Hemingway was to receive the Silver Medal of Military Valor from the Italian government for
his courageous actions that day.

Hemingway the Survivor

“Man is not made for defeat. A man can be destroyed but not defeated.”

–The Old Man and the Sea

Perhaps most unbelievable of all Hemingway’s exploits was the sheer number of potentially fatal
diseases and accidents he survived.  Aside from the remnants of fragment in his leg left over from the
World War I mortar hit, he also bore a bullet wound in his leg.  This was the result of a self inflicted
gunshot, an accident that occurred while trying to finish off a still thrashing shark he had dragged aboard
while shark hunting. 

In his later years he survived anthrax, malaria, pneumonia, dysentery, skin cancer, hepatitis, anemia,
diabetes, high blood pressure, and several major injuries.
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During his last safari in East Africa, he survived not one, but two plane crashes.  The resulting concussion
caused him to leak cerebral fluid, and he suffered from two cracked discs, a kidney and liver rupture, a
dislocated shoulder, and a broken skull. He still went on a planned fishing trip… where a brushfire
burned his legs, front torso, lips, left hand, and right forearm.

He responded by getting up and winning a Nobel Prize.

Hemingway the Legend

Hemingway’s life experiences provided the source material for his literary works, and much of his life
can be seen reflected in his fiction.  The male protagonists in so many of his stories share both his
machismo and his hidden pains, yet always exhibited grace under pressure.

1. Get Up, Stand Up

In his lifetime, Hemingway published seven novels, six short story collections, and two non-fiction works.
Many of these are considered classics of American literature and all were written the same way.
Hemingway had a study, sure – a specially-made square tower, if you don’t mind – but he did most of his
writing in his bedroom. Half of that room was given over to his desk, but even that’s not where he
worked, oh, no: Hemingway’s trusty typewriter actually sat on top of yet another bookcase – what he
called his ‘work desk’.

And lest you think he pulled up a chair to pound the keys, think again: Hemingway preferred to work
standing up, spending hours and hours at a time on his feet, moving only to shift his weight from one leg
to the other. He’d wear down seven pencils in a good day’s work. And who says writing isn’t manual
labour?

His literary style

Iceberg theory

Use short sentences. Use short paragraphs. This was the first dictum that a young Ernest Hemingway
learned as he began his journalistic career at a Kansas City newspaper. It was a technical style that
proved useful to him not only in the world of newspapers and magazines but also in the world of
publishing. This style of writing would, like the man himself, grow and evolve during the years of World
War I where he would be injured on the Italian front. It would continue as an expat in Paris where he,
and his wife Hadley and their newborn son, would experience the Paris of the Lost Generation.

According the Dr. James Nagel, professor of American Literature, Hemingway’s style “changed the very
nature of American writing.”

• * Numerous influences from various people and events from his personal life had a strong effect
on his writing. He drew heavily on his these experiences for his writing.