Photos only with commentary: Part 2. The Pauline years

Althought after divorce from Pauline, this is all 3 boys, 2 from marriage to Pauline Ernest Hemingway with sons (Patrick, John "Bumby", and Gregory "Gigi"), at Club de Cazadores del Cerro, Cuba. Photograph in Ernest Hemingway Photograph Collection, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston. — Althought after divorce from Pauline, this is all 3 boys, 2 from marriage to Pauline

Hem's Dining room in Key West — Hem’s Dining room in Key West

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ERNEST MILLER HEMINGWAY 1899-July 1961

More Hemingway and Fitzgerald

Scott and Zelda as seen in Midnight in Paris

In the world of renowned and important authors, it can be argued that no writer has ever given us as many interesting real life tales and correspondence than the “Papa” of 20th century fiction: Ernest Hemingway

They were the top dogs, supporters and admirers of the other. A few anecdotes of their relationship. note however that much as I love Hemingway, some of the anecdotes in A Moveable Feast may be read with some sense of possible embellishment–on occasion. Still, the relationship between Hem and Fitz is always fascinating.

Veterans get help from Hemingway Source

Writing Retreat for Military Veterans at Hemingway-Pfeiffer Gets Underway July 24-26

For an intensive weekend, Vets can write and gain access to their creative side at the homestead of Pauline Pfeiffer, Hemingway’s second wife. her Uncle Gus was a generous patron to Hemingway in his earlier years and in fact, Hem dedicated A Farewell to Arms to Gus Pfeiffer. What a great idea for giving back and enriching the community. Read more.

Photos only with commentary: Part 1. Hadley years

I thought I’d post some photos that I had not viewed in a while and are not as frequently viewed. I love them all and hope you enjoy them too. Best, Christine

What’s Percolating in the Hemingway World?

I subscribe to a number of RSS feeds and google alerts that keep me posted on all things Hemingway. So here are a few random developments.

1) Mariel Hemingway is producing a movie of Hemingway’s last book, A Moveable Feast, finished after his death and published initially in 1964. (Hemingway died in 1961).

2) Andy Garcia is wrapping up his movie about Hemingway and his boat captain, Gregorio Fuentes.

3) Coming out in the Fall is a possible Oscar contender called GENIUS, about

Hemingway’s editor Maxwell Perkins (played by Colin Firth) and Tom Wolfe (played by Michael Fassbinder). Dominic West plays Hemingway. All Brits playing Americans.

4) The Cuban government is working on how much access to permit to the Finca Vigia. Right now, the public can peer through windows but cannot go in.

5)Thomasville is having a Hemingway Outdoor furniture collection.

6) A man named Robert Wheeler spent a winter four years ago in Paris, retracing Hemingway’s time there in the early 1920s. He took a camera. And now he’s publishing a book, due out April 7. I can’t wait to see it.

Furniture from the Thomasville Hemingway collection

7) Before announcing the winner of the 2015 PEN/Hemingway Award for debut fiction, Beacon Press director Helene Atwan, administrator of the prize, made note of a major gift from the Hemingway family. The cash prize attached to the award was doubled this year to $20,000. Patrick, Hemingway’s remaining son, was on hand to assist in distributing the awards which took place at the JFK Library, home of he Hemingway Collection.

Hemingway and Paris, on the trail

Ernest Hemingway’s Paris springs to life via cafes, brasseries, more

Have fun reading about one writer/fan and his visit to Paris tracing Hemingway’s steps. When I went last year, I did a lot of that but this fellow did it better and more systematically. It always makes me sad to read Hemingway’s words that Paris never was the same again but as he also noted, it changes as we change.

Mary Welsh Hemingway, Hemingway’s Widow

Minn. native Mary Hemingway, wife of Ernest, memorialized in Bemidji

Mary was Hemingway’s fourth wife and his widow. She took a fair amount of abuse. I was never certain if she truly loved him that much or if she loved being Mrs. Ernest Hemingway that much. She survived his infatuation with Adriana Ivancich, his bad behavior and heavy drinking that was the precursor to that bad behavior and she helped as ill health hit both of them, but particularly Hemingway.

Hemingway seemed to like all sorts of women but the kind that he married was level headed and smart. He never left Pauline for Jane Kendall Mason, beautiful though she was, as she was emotionally unstable. Hadley, Pauline, Martha, and Mary were all stable, intelligent women. All but Hadley were journalists in their own right. All but Martha were very deferential to Hemingway and perhaps that’s why he always said that was the one marriage he regretted.

Anyway, Mary is being honored in her hometown in MN. All of the other three wives strangely were from St. Louis.

Mary's book about Papa — Mary’s book about Papa

Geniuses at Work: Hem and Fitzgerald funny letters

In the early 1920s, F. Scott Fitzgerald sent Ernest Hemingway the first draft of the novel that would go on to become his magnum opus, ‘The Great Gatsby.’ What followed was one of the most incredible correspondences in the history of American literature. If you’ve never seen these letters before, you’ve got to check them out right now! They offer some remarkable insight into one of the greatest novels of all time.

You may be baffled, as you read letter one, by Hemingway’s arrogance. READ ON. Really fun and funny by two writers at the top of their powers and who at least at that point, genuinely liked and admired the other’s skills and persona.

Possible New Filming Location in Cuba

Hemingway's livingroom — Vigia Finca, Cuba. Hemingway’s Living Room, 60 feet long.

One Stateside filmmaker who recently took advantage of Cuba’s retro look is Bob Yari, who spent a month shooting his Ernest Hemingway biopic “Papa” entirely on location in and near Havana in March and April of 2014.

The old man and the sea — written in Cuba about Cuba

Now that Cuba has opened a bit, more opportunities for on location filming is possible. The new biopic about Hem’s declining years was just filmed and it sounds like the producer was able to use the actual Cuban locations. However, more of this should be possible in the future.