Ernest Hemingway
At 8:00 am on July 21, 1899 in an old house in Oak Park, Illinois, a literary legend was
born. Ernest Hemingway spent his childhood days outside, fishing or canoeing. Growing up with
four sisters influenced his actions and attitude toward women throughout his life, causing him to
treat all of his wives playfully and competitively as though they were his sisters. Clarence "Ed"
Edmonds Hemingway, Ernest Hemingway's father, was a medical practitioner in Oak Park.
Hemingway's mother, Grace Hall, was a great musician and music teacher. While his father
wanted him to do something science-related and his mother wanted him to be a professional
violin cellist, Ernest Hemingway had an idea of his own. He had already begun to develop his
writing at his high school, Oak Park and River Forest Township High School. Many of his stories
were published in the school literary magazine, Tabula, and the school paper, the Trapeze.
Ernest and Pauline Hemingway, Paris, ca. 1927.
Ernest Hemingway in Milan, 1918
Ernest Hemingway's house- Key West, FLHe
was somewhat of an anti-intellectual, so he tried to play a lot of sports. Despite his one bad eye,
inherited from his mother, he was excellent at rifle marksmanship scoring 112 out of 150 points at
a range of 20 yards. Hitting a growth spurt his junior year, Hemingway played football, swam,
was the captain of the water basketball squad, and boxed well. Although he did not attend a
university, he did give a speech as class prophet at his high school graduation.
After high school, Hemingway began to pursue his writing career. He moved to Kansas
City to begin work on the Kansas City Star. However, his job got rather monotonous, so looking
for something new, Hemingway became a volunteer for the American Red Cross. He did
everything from recovering human remains to driving an ambulance. One night, while on canteen
duty, shots...