In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

CHAPTER 16 More New Places (1935) When the Hemingways returned to Key West in early January 1935, little remained of the sleepy town they had fallen in love with in 1928. During the previous year, the city and county governments had declared bankruptcy and, in a bold move, turned the town over to the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA). That agency created a Key West Authority that attempted to breathe life into the dying town through a variety of measures, including a strong emphasis on tourism. Volunteers began a clean-up, fixup campaign, and a promotional brochure printed in December identified town attractions for tourists. The Hemingways’ home was labeled number eighteen in a list of fortyeight places to see, sandwiched between Johnson’s Tropical Grove and the Lighthouse and Aviaries. In the April 1935 issue of Esquire, Ernest wrote facetiously: “Your correspondent is a modest, retiring chap with no desire to compete with the Sponge Lofts (number 13 of the sights), the Turtle Crawl (number 3 on the map), the Ice Factory (number 4), the Tropical Open Air Aquarium containing the 627 pound jewfish (number 9), or the Monroe County Courthouse (number 14). . . . This is all very flattering to the easily bloated ego of your correspondent but very hard on production.”1 The Hemingways soon hired Toby Bruce to build a six-foot brick fence around three sides of their property to maintain privacy, a move that created controversy in a city gearing up for tourists. One city commissioner, though without legal authority to do so, used his influence to prevent access to the city’s brick piles, the source for Hemingway’s fence materials. Undaunted, Ernest arranged with the naval station’s commanding officer to purchase bricks stored at the base. Toby made numerous trips in a borrowed, dilapidated truck to haul off three thousand bricks at a time to finish the project.2 International news, however, soon would capture everyone’s attention . After the death of German president Paul von Hindenburg in August 174 1934, Chancellor Adolf Hitler assumed the office of reich president. By March 1935 Hitler denounced disarmament clauses of the Versailles Treaty, which had ended World War I, and began to rearm and enlarge the German military. When Gus Pfeiffer made a two-month visit to Europe right after the holidays, he expressed relief to have cousin Leonhard Kluftinger at the helm of the Warner-Hudnut factories in Berlin. Leonhard kept up with European politics and had a good mind and sound principles, Gus wrote to Ernest. “He’s just the same as always—not the kind of man you would care to face in battle. He is outspoken in his views regarding political situation . . . and is combative if things done do not conform to his views of what is right & what is wrong.”3 Though they eventually wound up on opposite sides of the approaching war, Kluftinger sent greetings to Ernest and extended an invitation through Gus for him to visit. “That is if they will let you in Germany,” Gus joked. “I don’t know if you are one of the not wanted. I believe they burned your books.”4 While Gus visited family throughout Europe, the Hemingways received guests in Key West. Virginia arrived for her usual stay, and John Dos Passos with his wife, Katy, moved south for the winter in November. Dos Passos, recovering from a bout with rheumatic fever, could not take the cold winter at their home in Massachusetts and found Key West more to his liking. Additionally, Sara Murphy and Ada MacLeish arrived together for a visit, primarily to give Sara an opportunity to relax after a difficult fall and winter. Shortly after Gerald had assumed leadership of the family’s Mark Cross business the previous fall, their fourteen-year-old son, Patrick, had experienced a relapse. Throughout the holidays Sara stayed at his side in the hospital, and when Patrick’s condition improved, his exhausted mother gratefully accepted the offer to head south with Ada. About two weeks into the Key West trip, however, she got totally unexpected news from Gerald. Their fifteen-year-old son, Baoth, attending prep school at St. George’s in Newport, Rhode Island, had developed a double mastoid infection and needed surgery. Ernest took Sara and Ada to Miami in the middle of the night aboard the Pilar to catch a plane out of Miami. Problems during the surgery developed into meningitis, and within a...

Share