The
two were married in September 1921 and by November of the same year he
accepted an offer to work with the Toronto Daily Star as its European
correspondent. Hemingway and his new bride would go to Paris, France
where he met some of Paris’ prominent writers and artists and quickly
forged friendships with them that would be instrumental in his
development as a writer and artist. Counted among those friends were
Ezra Pound, Gertrude Stein, Sylvia Beach, James Joyce, Max Eastman,
Lincoln Steffens and Wyndahm Lewis, and he was acquainted with the
painters Miro and Picasso.
he
met Hemmingway and his wife, Hadley, at a party. He, was a struggling,
not-yet-famous writer-- a married man-- and the father of a son. Soon,
the three became fast friends... with Hadley becoming less and less a
part of the picture. By the fall of 1926, Ernest and Pauline had become
an item. He divorced Hadley in 1927 and married Pauline. In 1928
Hemingway and Pauline left Paris for Key West, Florida in search of new
surroundings to go with their new life together. Hemingway found it a
wonderful place to work and to play, discovering the sport of big game
fishing which would become a life-long passion and a source for much of
his later writing. They would live there for nearly twelve years,
although they spent a good part of their lives trekking back and forth
to Europe, Africa, Havana, Wyoming and Piggott, Arkansas (her hometown).
Patrick Hemingway was born by Caesarian section in Kansas June 1928.
Their second son, Gregory Hemingway born by Caesarian section in Kansas
City in 1931. Pauline remained deeply in love with Hemingway all her
life and sacrificed much to be with him, including, perhaps, her own
sons, Patrick and Gregory. By her own admission, she was not cut out to
be a mother and was forced often into a choice of either being with
Ernest or with her children. She chose Ernest, trying not to lose him,
and her children were often left in the care of their nurse, their
grandparents in Piggott, or their Aunt Virginia. Gregory stated publicly
that he often felt abandoned as a child, and that his relationship with
his mother was never a close one.
HIS DEMISE
In
1954, flush with money from the Old Man and the Sea, Hemingway decided
to exercise his wanderlust, returning to Africa for another safari with
his wife Mary. Hemingway and Mary boarded a small Cessna airplane
heading toward Uganda. The plane barely got off the ground before
crashing and catching fire. Mary and the pilot made it through an exit
at the front of the plane. Hemingway, using his head as a battering ram,
broke through the main door. The crash had injured Hemingway more than
most would know. His skull was fractured, two discs of his spine were
cracked, his right arm and shoulder were dislocated, his liver, right
kidney and spleen were ruptured, his sphincter muscle was paralyzed by
compressed vertebrae on the iliac nerve, his arms, face and head were
burned by the flames of the plane, his vision and hearing were impaired.
Though he survived the crash, his injuries cut short his life in a slow
and painful way. After 1954 Hemingway battled deteriorating health. He
struggled creatively as much as physically. At times despondent, at
others the life of the party, the swings in his moods, exacerbated by
his heavy drinking of up to a quart of liquor a day, were taking a toll
on those close to him. During the summer of his 60th year, pictures show
Hemingway looking like a man closer to eighty than one of sixty.
In
July of 1960 they left their home in Cuba and took up residence in
Ketchum, Idaho where he and Mary had already purchased a home the
previous year. Idaho reminded Hemingway of Spain and Ketchum was small
and remote enough to buffer him from the negative trappings of his
celebrity. But even the beautiful landscapes of Idaho couldn’t hide the
fact that something was seriously wrong with Hemingway. In the fall of
1960 Hemingway flew to Rochester, Minnesota and was admitted to the Mayo
Clinic, ostensibly for treatment of high blood pressure but really for
help with the severe depression his wife Mary could no longer handle
alone. The Mayo Clinic’s treatment would ultimately lead to electro
shock therapy. According to a friend, Hemingway received "between 11 to
15 shock treatments that instead of helping him most certainly hastened
his demise." One of the sad side effects of shock therapy is the loss of
memory, and for Hemingway it was a catastrophic loss. Without his memory
he could no longer write, could no longer recall the facts and images he
required to create his art. Writing, which had already become difficult
was now nearly impossible.
On the
morning of July 2, 1961 Hemingway rose early, as he had his entire adult
life, selected a shotgun from a closet in the basement, went upstairs to
a spot near the entrance-way of the house and shot himself in the head.
It was little more than two weeks until his 62nd birthday.
THE HOUSE
on WHITEHEAD
After renting an apartment and a house for a couple of years in Key
West, the Hemingways bought a large house at 907 Whitehead Street with
$12,500 of help from Pauline’s wealthy Uncle Gus. Asa Tift, a marine
architect and salvage wrecker had built the house in 1851. It was
constructed from limestone blocks cut directly from the site of the
house. As a result it has a true basement, 9 feet deep, under the
house. The basement is used today as a storage space and never gets
wet. This is because the house actually sits on a low hill, about 16
feet above sea level.
Hemingway had a friend build the brick wall around the house in an effort to get some privacy from the crowds of tourists peering into the property during his writing days. He was also somewhat bothered by the fact that the lighthouse keeper had a view into his bedroom. That is partly true - from the top of the lighthouse, you can only see the upstairs balcony
Each level on the large two-story home has a wrap around porch, and each room is filled with art and antiques. The house contains furniture similar to that Hemmingway and his family used. When he lived in the house in Key West, Papa was a man in his 30's, in the prime of his life. The plain white cupboard in one room is actually the one where he kept the manuscripts of the stories on which he was working. Patrick and Gregory's room still contains memorabilia and photos from all the stages of Papa's life. There are first editions of his books in the chests along with boots and saddlebags from his Western trips. On the walls, photos show Papa skiing in Schruns, Austria, posing with a large Marlin caught in Cuba, and Papa pounding away on his portable typewriter.
The house had the first pool in Key West - it cost $20,000 in the late 30s. Papa himself planned the pool, but his job as a war correspondent during the Spanish Civil War interrupted his plans and it was Pauline who supervised construction during the winter of '37 - '38. There must have been a few cost overruns, because when Papa saw the finished pool upon his return to Key West From Spain he was astounded at the final costs: $20,000.00. At that point he took a penny out of his pocket, gave it to Pauline, and said laughingly, "Well, you might as well take my last cent." Papa's "last cent" can be seen under glass even today
THE CATS
The story goes...
Hemingway made the acquaintance of a sea captain who owned an unusual
six-toed tomcat. Upon his departure from Key West, the captain presented
the cat to Hemingway. Today many of the numerous cats that inhabit the
grounds still possess the unusual six toes. The 50-60 cats about the
home and grounds are descendants of the cats he kept while he lived in
the house, including many extra-toed (polydactyl) like the one Papa
Hemingway loved. They are not of any particular breed, but appear to be
a combination of various breeds--sort of "Heinz 57." They are all
shapes, sizes, colors and personalities. All of the cats are named.
No doubt the Hemingway House
in Key West houses the most famous cat drinking fountain in the world;
Papa had it built for his pets. The "cat water fountain" is actually an
antique urinal ripped from the original Sloppy Joes' Bar location in the
late thirties. The top of the fountain is an old Spanish olive jar that
was brought from Cuba. The trough at the base of the olive jar came
from Papa's good friend Joe Russell's joint "Sloppy Joe's." It is
actually one of the bar's urinals. Pauline added the decorative tile to
disguise it.
..And, by the way- be aware of the sign saying “Please Do Not Pick Up the Cats!"
The first floor of the carriage house was eventually converted into an apartment by Pauline. After her death, this is where Ernest and his fourth wife Mary stayed when they visited Key West. Their home was in Cuba but they stayed at the Key West house quite often; the last time was in 1960. Currently, this building houses the property's offices and bookstore.
Today, the house is privately owned, and lovingly
maintained... along with all of the cats. It's authentic as to still be
devoid of air-conditioning. The interior isn't as super-comfortable on
the hottest days of summer, but the construction of the house, its
ceiling fans and the large ceiling to floor windows, make tropical
ventilation happen.
Like almost everything in Key West, it costs to get in. Guided
tours, once inside, are free...you just congregate at the entrance for
the next one to start. You'll be treated to a 30 minute walk through
both the house and history.
HEMINGWAY HOUSE
As you can see, Key West and Ernest Hemingway are inseparable. Papa Hemingway's years in town were among his most productive, from a literary standpoint, and his contribution to the attitude and nightlife of the town continues to this very day. Hemingway had a lot of friends in Key West, and many of them appeared as characters in his novel "To Have and Have Not" which is about Key West during the depression. Whether you care for his writing style, lifestyle, or bawdiness, you have to give him much credit for his world-renown prolific literary achievements.
.
(it
would be 1950 before he would publish another novel). In between he would
cover World War II, and he would divorce his third wife Martha to marry his
fourth, Mary Welsh. Hemingway and Mary openly conducted their courtship in
London and then in France after the allied invasion at Normandy and the
subsequent liberation of Paris. For all intents and purposes Hemingway’s
third marriage was over and his fourth and final marriage to Mary had begun
at that time. 
