Author. He was born at Oak Park, Illinois, grew-up in the Chicago suburbs while spending summers at the family’s waterfront home on Bear Lake. Ernest Hemingway was one of six children of a strict doctor, who gave him a passion for fishing and hunting, and a music teacher mother who cultivated a cultural knowledge of music and literature. He spoke often of his ideal, happy childhood. After his high school graduation, he began his writing career as a reporter followed by a dangerous lifestyle which bordered on the hair raising. At nineteen, he was almost killed by shrapnel while driving an ambulance in Italy. A wild-game safari in Africa saw him surviving two plane crashes in the African jungle, and during the Spanish Civil War, he joined the Republic forces as an ambulance driver surviving many close calls. His adventurous life provided him with material for many of his novels: "A Farewell to Arms," "Death in the Afternoon," "The Green Hills of Africa" and "For Whom the Bell Tolls," deemed to be his greatest novel. Hemingway is also the author of a remarkable collection of short stories. His book, "The Old Man and the Sea" became a motion picture. The plane crashes, drinking, hard work and play finally took its toll. He settled in Ketchum, Idaho, his favorite hunting area, already suffering from severe depression because of health issues, finances and even the fear of losing his home in Cuba now controlled by the Castro regime. His worries here were groundless, as the Cuban government has preserved everything from his residence and even his fishing boat while constructing a memorial in Cojimar. The Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winner followed in his father’s suicide footsteps imitating him by taking his own life after attending a dinner at a Ketchum restaurant at the age of sixty one. His funeral was a scaled down Catholic service because of his many marriages. His body was transported from the funeral home in nearby Hailey to a small waiting group of his immediate family and about fifty invited friends at the Ketchum Cemetery. Father Robert J. Waldmann, the local priest conducted a brief graveside committal service and the prolific writer was interred. His legacy is probably the best preserved of all American authors. His homes in Key West, Florida, Cojimar, Cuba and Ketchum, Idaho have been saved becoming popular tourist destinations. The postal service has honored him with a commemorative stamp while American schools extol his writings making them required reading. In a bit of trivia...Even though Hemingway was an ardent hunter, he had a soft spot for pets of every description. Legions of cats roamed his Villas and always a dog or two were nestled by his feet. A small dog cemetery located at Museo Ernest Hemingway in Cuba is testament to his caring nature. His former residence in Key West, Florida, also a museum, is constantly overrun with cats that are direct descendants from his original pets and are always available for adoption.

Author. He was born at Oak Park, Illinois, grew-up in the Chicago suburbs while spending summers at the family’s waterfront home on Bear Lake. Ernest Hemingway was one of six children of a strict doctor, who gave him a passion for fishing and hunting, and a music teacher mother who cultivated a cultural knowledge of music and literature. He spoke often of his ideal, happy childhood. After his high school graduation, he began his writing career as a reporter followed by a dangerous lifestyle which bordered on the hair raising. At nineteen, he was almost killed by shrapnel while driving an ambulance in Italy. A wild-game safari in Africa saw him surviving two plane crashes in the African jungle, and during the Spanish Civil War, he joined the Republic forces as an ambulance driver surviving many close calls. His adventurous life provided him with material for many of his novels: "A Farewell to Arms," "Death in the Afternoon," "The Green Hills of Africa" and "For Whom the Bell Tolls," deemed to be his greatest novel. Hemingway is also the author of a remarkable collection of short stories. His book, "The Old Man and the Sea" became a motion picture. The plane crashes, drinking, hard work and play finally took its toll. He settled in Ketchum, Idaho, his favorite hunting area, already suffering from severe depression because of health issues, finances and even the fear of losing his home in Cuba now controlled by the Castro regime. His worries here were groundless, as the Cuban government has preserved everything from his residence and even his fishing boat while constructing a memorial in Cojimar. The Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winner followed in his father’s suicide footsteps imitating him by taking his own life after attending a dinner at a Ketchum restaurant at the age of sixty one. His funeral was a scaled down Catholic service because of his many marriages. His body was transported from the funeral home in nearby Hailey to a small waiting group of his immediate family and about fifty invited friends at the Ketchum Cemetery. Father Robert J. Waldmann, the local priest conducted a brief graveside committal service and the prolific writer was interred. His legacy is probably the best preserved of all American authors. His homes in Key West, Florida, Cojimar, Cuba and Ketchum, Idaho have been saved becoming popular tourist destinations. The postal service has honored him with a commemorative stamp while American schools extol his writings making them required reading. In a bit of trivia...Even though Hemingway was an ardent hunter, he had a soft spot for pets of every description. Legions of cats roamed his Villas and always a dog or two were nestled by his feet. A small dog cemetery located at Museo Ernest Hemingway in Cuba is testament to his caring nature. His former residence in Key West, Florida, also a museum, is constantly overrun with cats that are direct descendants from his original pets and are always available for adoption.

Bio by: Donald Greyfield