Hemingway-60 Years Ago, America's Most Famous Author Passed

[Foxi]

At the beginning of July, exactly 60 years ago, Hemingway pressed his forehead on the double barrel of his shotgun and pulled through.
Physically plagued by many aches and pains from his numerous accidents, not necessarily stabilized by heavy alcohol consumption, the most famous author in America, if not the world, took his fate into his own hands.
Perhaps he was also tired and depressed.
His friend Orson Wells always denied this: "How can you be depressed, when you've won the Nobel Prize?"
Most of us here in AH have been coded by his Africa literature.

You have to have a little macho feeling in your blood ,to like his books and writing style (we do, don't we?).
I was most fascinated by his book "death in the afternoon"
This book about the tradition of bullfighting, was instrumental in establishing my love for Spain.
The horses, fighting bulls and bodegas there. There is an attitude to life that is alien to us Germans and therefore inspires us so much.

I once spent almost two days in his beautiful house in Key West to let the spirit and the atmosphere of Hemingway work on me and it still works today.
He fled "across the river into the trees" two generations ago.

Thank you Hem, for your work.
You have been really a guy.
Today at sunset I drink one of your beloved Daiquiris on you
Foxi

in Key West, at his workplace.Behind it, a strong Roan.(guided by Philip Percival ?,possible)

"Ginger Rodgers"-the grandmother of this cat was allegedly Hem's special favorite(I've visited 1991).She was named like the grandma,the name what Hem has given.

Hems home in Key West-a dream house in a dream area.
Just beautiful.

 

[jacques smith]

Thanks Foxi
I’ve also visited his home in the keys and in Sun Valley Idaho. There is a mock fishing boat ,the Pilar ,in world wide sports. He used it to fish Cuban waters for years
I reread his classics at least every two years and always come away with something different

 

[Red Leg]

Many thanks indeed Foxi.

"For Whom the Bell Tolls" and "The Sun Also Rises" are my favorites. But, "Green Hills of Africa" is the most fun. I too have made the pilgrimage to Key West many times. A beer or three at Sloppy Joe's (or one of the author's favorite Mojito concoctions) is mandatory. He completely changed the use and concept of dialogue and syntax in English prose. Indeed, one could say once "The Sun Also Rises" was published, he had created a new direct, forceful American prose.

He would have nothing but contempt for the sniveling beta males dominating our current culture.

The brain injuries from the two plane crashes destroyed his ability to write - or even easily communicate. We now know the electric shock treatments he received likely accelerated his decline. A culminating event was a request for a congratulatory note to JFK (a great admirer) upon his inauguration - a paragraph with which he struggled for days. By July, he decided to depart on his own terms.

 

[sestoppelman]

Like some here I actually remember when he killed himself, my dad talked about it when it came on the news. I didnt really understand so much about him, but knew something significant had happened.

Green Hills is my favorite of his books but many others are good also. I have read many books about him and the one I find most interesting is called Hemingways Boat, by Paul Hendrickson. A must read for Hemingway fans.

 

[Firebird]

Just finished re reading “The Old Man and the Sea” for the umpteenth time while sitting in a tree stand hunting bears. I like it just as much each time I read it.

 

[John Wasmuth]

Definitely a man of adventure. There are those that have raised doubt if he had help with his demise. Perhaps we are better off not knowing.

 

[Red Leg]

And @Foxi don't forget the penny set in concrete at the pool.

The house and lot next door were purchased due to the largesse of Pauline Pfeiffer's family. Hemingway used the vacant lot as a personal outdoor boxing ring. While off as a war correspondent during the Spanish Civil War and having an affair with future wife number three Martha Gellhorn, Pauline, in a fit of rage, decided that she had enough of the boxing ring (and Hemingway) and had the current lavish swimming pool built. Upon returning home a furious Hemingway reached in his pocket, took out a penny and threw it at her saying, "You’ve spent all but my last penny, so you might as well have that!”

One or the other then had it covered in plexiglass where it had landed.

When I finally relented and built the pool here on our place, and in a nod to Ernest and Pauline, I had my "last dime" fitted into the patio deck stone ............ inflation.

Hemingway's "last penny"

Red leg's "last dime"

 

[wesheltonj]

@Red Leg, that Mercury dime is worth more even with "inflation."

 

[Foxi]

And @Foxi don't forget the penny set in concrete at the pool.

Red leg's "last dime"

View attachment 411247

Great story Red Leg.

If I ever have money for a pool ,I will do the same. I already own the Penny
I have a photo of him from the Kennedy Library in Boston and I think the description might be wrong. These are for me European red deer, not wapitis.Ergo,he hunted in Europe.

Do you or the others know something about it ?

In this 1932 photo provided by the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation, Ernest Hemingway poses with a bear skin and deer antlers during a hunting trip to Nordquist's Ranch in Wyoming. (AP Photo

 

[Red Leg]

Nope, those are indeed elk (wapiti) from Wyoming. The picture has been published several times and has a secure provenance. The animal on the right seems to have a crown, but if you look closely the antler actual trails back in typical elk fashion. I am unaware of any big game hunting that he may have done in Europe. He did informally hunt grouse pretty extensively while in Spain, and apparently shot some pigeon matches in Europe.

 

[Doug3006]

PBS aired a Ken Burns documentary on Hemingway back in April. I thought it was well done and balanced too. He was a troubled character as well as a genius. It's fascinating how those 2 things often go together.

 

[Scott CWO]

Great story Red Leg.

If I ever have money for a pool ,I will do the same. I already own the Penny
I have a photo of him from the Kennedy Library in Boston and I think the description might be wrong. These are for me European red deer, not wapitis.Ergo,he hunted in Europe.

Do you or the others know something about it ?

View attachment 411252
In this 1932 photo provided by the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation, Ernest Hemingway poses with a bear skin and deer antlers during a hunting trip to Nordquist's Ranch in Wyoming. (AP Photo

Wapiti from WY. Wapiti can have extra points.

 

[PerH]

"Hemingway'Guns", is a very good book about his weapons . He may have had some other unknown guns ,possible a unknown highly engraved rifle delivered and then forgotten about ,or lost .

 

[mark-hunter]

Hamingway was mostly shotgunner. But of course he did not mind using rifles when occasion required. But, shotgun was his firearm of choice.

 

[norfolk shooter]

The BBC have a 6 part documentary about Hemingway on the Iplayer well worth a watch

 

[Trail Rated]

Thanks for posting. Hemingway long has been my favorite writer and has been an inspiration to me in several ways. I’ve been to his homes in Oak Park, northern Michigan and Key West, and Finca Vigia is on my bucket list.

 

[gbflyer]

Never has a writer packed more commas in a sentence. I read “Green Hills” at least once a year.