Hemingway: Unmatched Writer, Barfly

A drinker with a writing problem

“Papa” getting a load on in Havana.

*(This edition was published in part in 2023 although it may have been missed by some of my later subscribers, it features one of America’s best writers who had a hell of a go at life before he and his personal demons ended it. I thought it would be worth repeating.)

The Man and the Myth

In his time Ernest Hemingway became the guy that every man wanted to be: successful writer of books, deep-sea fisherman, U-Boat chaser, ladies man, war correspondent, world traveler and indefatigable drinker who could hold his own in a bar or a boxing ring and who was admired everywhere as the king of swashbucklers. A man’s man, unafraid of danger and talented above his peers. He seemed larger than life. A whole lot larger in the minds of many. He became his own myth.

At the wheel of his motor yacht, “Pilar” offshore Cuba

Some things about Hemingway expand the image. He also was a man who loved cats and took ordinary men and women into his circle right along with movie stars, famous bullfighters, heads of state and renowned authors. If you had courage, could hold your liquor and were honest, social rank didn’t seem to matter.

His cats famously had five toes.

He appeared to enjoy as much life as he could cram into his limited number of years and placed writing books and having fun as the two top priorities of life. Not many have been able to push the envelope as he did, say nothing of getting away with it.

(Find out more about this remarkable American writer and his life plus get the recipe for his own, self-invented rum daiquiri by becoming a paid subscriber. You’ll be glad you did!)