Marking Papa Hemingway (and Stalking Batman)
(the typewriter in Hemingway’s room)
Today marks the 50th anniversary of Ernest “Papa” Hemingway’s passing. I must admit I was never especially enamored with his work. Its staccato, almost brutal style didn’t appeal. I also didn’t know much about his life other then what the iconic photo seemed to imply: an adventurer with a raw macho certitude. Nonetheless I was intrigued to hear from Stern Magazine’s Sue Lapsien regarding an assignment about Hemingway to run on the 50th anniversary of his passing. Sue is awesome and has supported my work ever since I began. This one sounded like a doozy: I was to join their reporter Stephan Maus in Ketchum, Idaho and spend the week exploring the place where Hemingway spent his final days.
(a scene from the Purdy farm, where Hemingway would hunt with owner Bud Purdy)
Needless to say some of my literary pals like Jaman Matthews and Joe Ghormley were a bit jealous. Joe actually related a tale of a friend who had been in Idaho when Hemingway passed and had ended up with a key bit of Hemingway memorabilia. Further details would make Joe’s lawyerly alter-ego twitchy and nervous so I’ll spare him that.
(Bud Purdy looks thru his signed books as writer Stephan Maus flips through another book that pictures Hemingway and Purdy together.)
There are so many details from this trip that I could spend all day typing this and I don’t think I should do that. Other things to do. So here are some highlights:
(the Hemingway memorial in Sun Valley bathed in evening light)
1. Nobody’s ever heard of of Ketchum, ID but most know of Sun Valley. Ketchum is the most tony town in Sun Valley. Formerly a copper town, it was adopted by developers in the 30’s with an eye towards making it a celebrity resort. That’s how Hemingway ended up there. As a writer he wasn’t wealthy and his expensive tastes often made him dependent on patrons to subsidize his lifestyle (he did make good money too, but he still lived it up in a manner that could deplete the funds). So he got a free trip to Sun Valley in 1939 courtesy of railroad tycoon Averill Harriman, who was trying to turn Sun Valley into a celebrity resort. He completed his classic novel “For Whom the Bell Tolls” there.
(a view from the Hemingway property)
Didn’t I say I was going to be brief? Ugh. Will try harder now.
Long story short: the 1939 trip was the first of many to Ketchum and Sun Valley. Usually they were fall trips filled with duck hunting.
(a tree on the Purdy property)
He continued visiting there for the remainder of his life and he and his last wife Mary eventually purchased a home in Ketchum. In 1961 Hemingway, 62 years of age, shot himself in the front hallway of the house.
(the living room of the Hemingway housed. this is mostly preserved from the time of his death with the exception of the Karsh photo and the items displayed above the television.)
My job was to give a sense of the place where he passed: not just the obvious elements like the house where he lived (and committed suicide), but also his friends, relatives and a general sense of the Idaho landscape. Here’s what the week ended up including:
1) Exploring Sun Valley; shooting the landscape
(an Airstream punctuates the Sun Valley landscape)
2) Photographing Hemingway’s house
(the Hemingway house)
3) Hanging out with Hemingway hunting pal Bud Purdy (now 93) on his 9000 acre ranch that was the scene of numerous Marlboro ad campaign shoots in the 70’s. He had a bunch of the ads plastered on the wall of his office. So much iconic American imagery shot on just one dude’s ranch. Wild.
(Bud Purdy, holding a gun Hemingway had sent him from Spain in the 1950’s)
4) A trip to Bozeman, Montana where Hemingway’s son Patrick (now 80) lives with his wife as well as a day spent with Valerie Hemingway, one of Hemingway’s last lovers (she was 19 at the time), who subsequently married his wayward son Gregory. That’s its own story. Her biography Running with the Bulls I expect is fascinating. She was also a fabulous hostess. She served us a great meal after the interview and photographs concluded, and then broke out some great Irish whiskey Bushmills Red Label — of course wasted on me (but I did try it).
(Patrick Hemingway at his home in Bozeman, Montana)
(Valerie Hemingway at her home in Bozeman, MT)
5) A trip to a bar called “Angels and Outlaws” in Bliss, Idaho to meet a retired welder who still had pieces from the gun Hemingway had shot himself with. Not sure how many outlaws were there but there sure weren’t many angels.
(Allen Brooks holds the only known pieces to Hemingway’s suicide gun)
(Remnants from the gun Hemingway used to shoot himself. the entire gun was thought to have been buried but the welder who destroyed it secretly saved these remnants and passed it down through his family)
6) A trip to Batman’s house. No joke. It’s the home that belongings to the original Batman actor, Adam West. West had unwittingly purchased the land where most of the Hemingway suicide gun had been buried so we went over to see if he knew anything about it home. On the way over I had occasion to type the following Facebook post:
Batman wasn’t home! Off to Hemingway’s. (I’ll never be able to write that again…) 
(Batman’s firewood)
(A piece of split wood near the entrance to the Hemingway house. The entrance is where Hemingway took his own life)
Yep. Pretty cool. Except Batman wasn’t home so we were reduced to skulking around his front yard a bit. I took a picture of his picturesque (and voluminous) firewood pile as well as a shot of a suspicious dog that wandered up and appeared to be sniffing for Hemingway’s gun. Imagine if he’d found it? What a dilemma that would have been…
As one might imagine there were a number of memorable moments on the trip. Those are a few. If you want to hear more, buy me a diet coke on the rocks and it’ll all come out….
(A Hemingway trunk)
(Another view from the Hemingway home)
(One last shot from the Purdy property — couldn’t get enough of that place — or the jalapeno-topped deviled eggs they sold at the nearby general store)
(Author Stephan Maus takes notes on the Purdy gun as a bird flies nearby. Stephan was a great traveling companion — I hope we can get out again soon.)
