Ernest Hemingway

Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist and short story writer whose works, drawn from his wide range of experiences in World War I, the Spanish Civil War, and World War II, are characterized by terse minimalism and understatement; they exerted a significant influence on the development of twentieth century fiction. Hemingway's protagonists are typically stoic male individuals, often interpreted as projections of his own character, who must master "grace under pressure". Many of his works, like The Sun Also Rises, A Farewell to Arms and The Old Man and the Sea, are now considered classics in the canon of American literature.

Death

Hemingway attempted suicide in the spring of 1961, and received ECT treatment again, but this was unable to prevent his suicide on July 2, 1961—in the morning. He died as a result of a self-inflicted shotgun blast to the head in Ketchum, Idaho, at the age of 61. Prior to his suicide, Hemingway is known to have blamed his loss of self on ECT.

Related Topics:
ECT - July 2 - 1961 - Shotgun

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An interesting footnote to add to this topic is that many members of Hemingway's immediate family also committed suicide, including his father, Clarence Hemingway, and his siblings Ursula and Leicester. It is believed that some members of Hemingway's paternal line had a genetic condition or hereditary disease known as haemochromatosis, in which an excess of iron concentration in the blood causes damage to the pancreas and depression or instability in the cerebrum. Hemingway's physician father is known to have developed bronze diabetes due to this condition in the years prior to his suicide at age fifty-nine.

Related Topics:
Haemochromatosis

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Hemingway donated his entire Cuban estate to Fidel Castro. He is interred in the Ketchum Cemetery in Ketchum, Idaho. The local public elementary school there is named in his honor. In 1996, his granddaughter, actress Margaux Hemingway, would take her own life; she is interred in the same cemetery.

Related Topics:
Fidel Castro - Ketchum, Idaho - Margaux Hemingway

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Posthumous publications

Hemingway was still writing new works up to the time of his death in 1961. All of these unfinished works which were Hemingway's sole creation have been published posthumously; they are Islands in the Stream, The Dangerous Summer, and The Garden of Eden{{ref|ref10}}. Controversy has surrounded the publication of these works, insofar as it has been suggested that it is not necessarily within the jurisdiction of Hemingway's relatives or publishers to determine whether these works should be made available to the public. For example, scholars often disapprovingly note that the version of The Garden of Eden published by Charles Scribner's Sons in 1986, though in no way a revision of Hemingway's original words, nonetheless does not include some two-thirds of the original manuscript{{ref|ref11}}. In 1999, another novel entitled True at First Light appeared under the name of Ernest Hemingway, though it was heavily edited by his son Patrick Hemingway.

Related Topics:
Islands in the Stream - The Dangerous Summer - The Garden of Eden - Charles Scribner's Sons - True at First Light - Patrick Hemingway

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The Associated Press reported in February 2005 on the progress of what is purported to be the final work to be posthumously published that was written by Hemingway. Entitled Under Kilimanjaro, the novel is a fictional account of Hemingway's final African safari in 1953–1954. He spent several months in Kenya with his fourth wife, Mary, before his near-fatal plane crashes took place{{ref|ref12}}. Anticipation of the novel, whose manuscript was completed in 1956, adumbrates perhaps an unprecedentedly large critical battle over whether it is proper to publish the work (many sources mention that a new, light side of Hemingway will be seen as opposed to his canonical, macho image{{ref|ref13}}), even as editors Robert W. Lewis of University of North Dakota and Robert E. Fleming of University of New Mexico have pushed it through to publication; the novel was published on September 15 2005.

Related Topics:
Associated Press - February - 2005 - Under Kilimanjaro - 1953 - 1954 - 1956 - Robert W. Lewis - University of North Dakota - Robert E. Fleming - University of New Mexico - September 15

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Also published after Hemingway's death were several collections of his work as a journalist. These collections contain his coulmns and articles for Esquire Magazine, The North American Newspaper Alliance, and the Toronto Star; they include Byline: Ernest Hemingway edited by William White, and Hemingway: The Wild Years edied by Gene Z. Hanrahan.

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