Ernest Hemingway Page 6

Short biography of Ernest Hemingway

Ernest Miller Hemingway was born on July 21, 1899, in Oak Park, Illinois. His father, Clarence Edmonds Hemingway, was a physician, and his mother, Grace Hall Hemingway, was a musician. Both were well-educated and well-respected in Oak Park, a conservative community about which resident Frank Lloyd Wright would say, “So many churches for so many good people to go to.”Hemingway’s parents had six children, but only Ernest and his sister Marcelline survived infancy. He was close to his sister, and they remained in close contact throughout his life. His sister would later say that as a child he was “wide open and full of wonder.” He grew up in a house full of music, and it is thought that his mother’s discipline and his father’s affection contributed to what his biographer James R. Mellow called “the single most prominent characteristic of the Hemingway man and writer—a profound sense of duality.”Hemingway’s father taught him to hunt, fish, and camp in the woods and lakes of northern Michigan as a young boy, and Hemingway loved it. He learned to hunt deer, birds, and trout, and he learned how to sail and how to paint. He also learned from his father how to be tough, both physically and emotionally. Hemingway’s father was a man’s man, and he taught his son to be a man’s man.Hemingway attended public schools in Oak Park, and he was a good student and an active member of the Boy Scouts. He was also a member of the junior tennis team and the swimming team. Hemingway’s mother taught him to play the cello, and he loved music, especially opera. He developed a lifelong love of reading, and his favorite book was Hans Christian Andersen’s Fairy Tales, which he read over and over again.In 1917, Hemingway graduated from high school and went to work for The Kansas City Star as a cub reporter.

He didn’t stay long, however, because he wanted to go to Italy to fight in World War I. Hemingway tried to enlist in the U.S. Army, but he was rejected because of his bad eyesight. He went to Italy anyway and became an ambulance driver for the Red Cross.In May of 1918, Hemingway was wounded by mortar fire while serving in the Italian army. He was awarded the Italian Silver Medal of Bravery and the Croce de Guerra for his service. Hemingway was also awarded the U.S. Army’s Silver Star, but he never picked it up.After the war, Hemingway returned to the United States, where he worked as a journalist for The Toronto Star. He met and fell in love with a young woman named Hadley Richardson, and they were married in 1921.

General Essay Structure for this Topic

1. The Life and Times of Ernest Hemingway
2. The Early Years
3. The Making of a Writer
4. Hemingway the War Correspondent
5. The Great American Novelist
6. Hemingway and Love
7. The Tragic End
8. The Legacy of Ernest Hemingway
9. The Hemingway Reader
10. A Farewell to Arms

Important information

Spouse: Mary Welsh Hemingway (m. 1946–1961), Martha Gellhorn (m. 1940–1945)