The Life and Times of Ernest Hemingway

         Writer. Poet. Traveler. Husband. Legend.

       Decorated as one of the greatest writers in American history, Ernest Hemingway led a life of great literary accomplishments, accompanied by many personal struggles, followed by a tragic self-demise.  Born in 1899 in Oak Park, Illinois, Hemingway was the son of Dr. Clarence Hemingway and Grace Hall Hemingway.  Despite having poor sight in his left eye, he still managed to attain a normal childhood, participating in swimming, football, boxing, and journalism.  “Although writing never came easily for him, he was apparently deeply interested it in at an early age.” (Concise Dictionary).  After graduating high school Hemingway attributed to the Kansas Star as a junior writer.  Hemingway was interested in joining the military to serve his country during World War I, but because of his eye impairment this was not feasible.  Instead, he opted to volunteer for the Red Cross ambulance corps in 1918.  While serving in Italy, he was severely wounded by machine gun fire.  After being treated for his wounds, he was acclaimed to be something of a war hero, and returned to his home in Illinois to recover.  “In the long months of convalescence with his family, he turned to writing short stories based on his experience.” (Concise Dictionary). 

        

      As his writing career began to flourish, so did his attraction to the opposite sex.  Married four different times, Hemingway was no stranger to marital vows.  Soon after his first marriage to Hadley Richardson in 1921 he took a job at the Toronto Star working as a correspondent in Europe.  While in Europe, Hemingway was in the presence of many other well renowned American writers, such as James Joyce, Ezra Pound, Gertrude Stein and Ford Madox Ford.  Unfortunately, it is noted that these friendships were not long lasting.  “Hemingway’s resentment of the help he received found vent in insult – frequently in print; almost all of his literary friendships were eventually soured or destroyed.” (American Decades).  Often criticized for his writing styles and techniques, he was not conservative when it came to topics of literary discussion.  Hemingway was the author of several novels, short stories, and poems.  In Our Time  (1925), The Sun Also Rises (1926, and “The Snows of Kilimanjaro” were just a few of some of his most famous pieces of work.  Writing about everything from bullfighting to love stories in a time of war, Ernest Hemingway’s fame and rise to the top did not come without a price.  After three failed marriages, two plane crashes, and several years of battling depression, Ernest Hemingway committed suicide at his home in 1961.  


Sources


TEXT


"Ernest Hemingway." Concise Dictionary of American Literary Biography. Vol. 3. Detroit: Gale Research, 1989. Gale Biography In Context. Web. 12 Nov. 2011.


"Ernest Hemingway." American Decades. Ed. Judith S. Baughman, et al. Detroit: Gale, 1998. Gale Biography In Context. Web. 12 Nov. 2011.


IMAGE


"Ernest Miller Hemingway." Gale Biography in Context. Detroit: Gale, 2010. Gale Biography In Context. Web. 12 Nov. 2011.


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