Ernest Hemingway fans celebrate author 125 years after his birth

Ernest Hemingway spent the 1930s in Key West, Florida, and more than six decades after his death, fans, scholars and relatives continue to congregate on the island city to celebrate the author’s award-winning novels and adventure-filled life.

Hemingway Days started in 1981 with a short-story competition and a look-alike contest. This year’s celebration concluded on Sunday on the 125th anniversary of Hemingway’s birth on July 21, 1899.

As a novelist, short-story writer and journalist, Hemingway’s spot in the pantheon of American literature is undeniable and his legacy permeates the culture and character of Key West.

Hemingway’s great-grandson, Stephen Hemingway Adams, was born nearly three decades after Hemingway died. Mr Adams said working with his grandfather, Patrick Hemingway, who was Ernest Hemingway’s second son, helped him gain a deeper understanding of his famous ancestor.

“I got to work with my granddad, and we put out a book called Dear Papa, which was all of the letters between Ernest and my grandfather,” Mr Adams said.

Mr Adams said he is happy that some people love the adventurer more than the writer.

“I think it’s a split, and I think that’s what’s fun,” Mr Adams said of the throngs of look-alikes who visit Key West every year.

The Key West that Hemingway first visited in 1928 was a rustic fishing village, not a bustling tourist destination. Hemingway and his second wife, Pauline, had only planned a brief stop to pick up a car during their move from Paris to Arkansas, where Pauline’s family lived. But the car was not ready and they had to wait several weeks.

Hemingway quickly made friends with local business owners and fishermen. The couple made frequent visits to the island and eventually bought a French Colonial home on a 1.5-acre lot in 1931.

“He doesn’t come here to act like a recluse and just write,” Ms Convertito said. “He’s out at the bars all the time. He’s out fishing with people. He’s interacting in boxing matches.”

Ms Convertito pointed out that Hemingway was in his 30s for most of the time he lived in Key West, not the white-bearded “Papa Hemingway” most look-alike contestants emulate.

A Farewell To Arms was finished shortly after he began visiting Key West and that book’s reception, along with his coverage of the Spanish Civil War in the late 1930s, increased his fame.

Much of Hemingway’s time in Key West was devoted to big-game fishing with friends. Ms Convertito said Hemingway began to pioneer new techniques after getting his own boat, the Pilar, in 1934.

“He was desperate to land a fully intact marlin,” Ms Convertito said.

The slow process of reeling in a trophy fish left them vulnerable to sharks, similar to the giant marlin caught in Hemingway’s 1952 novel, The Old Man And The Sea.

Hemingway was an early member of the International Game Fish Association and named a vice president in 1940.

He also became an advocate for the Florida Keys and the people who lived there. To Have And Have Not, which was published in 1937, is set in a Key West ravaged by the Great Depression.

Michael Morawski, chief executive of the Hemingway Home and Museum, credits his great-aunt, Bernice Dixon, as one of the first people to help preserve Hemingway’s legacy in Key West. The local jewellery store owner bought the house for 80,000 dollars (£61,931) in 1961, shortly after Hemingway’s death. The home became a museum in 1964 and eventually was designated a National Historic Landmark.

Besides the historical and literary significance of the home, the museum also is famous for housing the Hemingway cats. About 60 polydactyl cats with a genetic mutation for extra toes continue to live at the estate. Some of these cats are descendants of the original white, six-toed cat that Hemingway was given from a ship’s captain.

“I really didn’t know what to expect,” Mr Whalton said. “I was getting nervous because we didn’t have anybody signed up for the look-alike contest, so I called everybody I knew in Key West who had a beard.”

The turnout was better than expected. The author’s younger brother, Leicester Hemingway, contacted Mr Whalton and agreed to judge the look-alike contest with his wife and daughters. Mr Whalton convinced another granddaughter of Ernest Hemingway, Lorian Hemingway, to judge a short story contest.

David Douglas, president of the Hemingway Look-Alike Society, began attending the competition in 2000 and won in 2009. The 70-year-old Houston resident continues to return every year as a judge.

“I love the contest, I love the camaraderie all the contestants,” Mr Douglas said.

David “Bat” Masterson, of Daytona Beach, became the newest “Papa” on Saturday. The retired pilot beat out 121 others in this year’s look-alike contest.

The look-alike group has evolved over the years into a service organisation with hundreds of members around the world that has funded more than 350,000 dollars (£270,950) in scholarships for Florida Keys students. The organisation also sponsors a youth baseball team in Cuba, where Hemingway moved after leaving Florida.