Monday, March 25, 2013

Why Hemingway, Why Now, Why Blog

Welcome to My Year With Hemingway


Welcome to My Year With Hemingway. So Why Hem, Why Now and Why this Blog? Also, perhaps, why should you bother reading this blog?

Why Hemingway. I think the answer to these questions will come not in one pithy Hemingway-like quote but over the course of this year, as I seek to complete a journey to discover Ernest Hemingway, the writer, the man, his work, and his life. Perhaps, most importantly, I want to learn what it is in "Papa" that - even some 52 years after his death --  is so fascinating that he remains one of the most frequently written about and emulated men in our culture.

Why Now? OK. This hurts, but Hemingway valued the "one true thing" above all. So, I must boil this down to the essence of the thing in typical Hemingway fashion. Here it is. I think this may be my "middle-age crisis". Less than a year ago, not long after my 50th Birthday, I visited the Hemingway-Pfeiffer home and exhibit in Piggott, Arkansas. It was the home of Pauline Pfeiffer, his second wife, and in the barn out back he wrote a good portion of "A Farewell to Arms".  Something about his life touched me in a way at 50 that did not reach me as a High School or College American Lit student. I want to learn more. I am not getting any younger, and I want to do things while I still can and with some measure of vigor.

Hemingway believed in a life of action and he loved to fish. I like this about him. As a young man I loved adventure and I loved to fish. Today, as a middle-aged man, Hem is helping me rediscover these early loves.  This year, as a New Year's Resolution, I set out to accomplish several goals. These include: catching my first Bill Fish in Florida; Running with the Bulls in Pamplona and attending my first Bull Fight; seeing the 100th Anniversary of the Tour de France; climbing Mount Kilimanjaro; and attempting to read and re-read all of the collected works of Hemingway, including his short-stories.

Why this blog, and why should you read it? Well, first of all, while I am no Hemingway and I make a lot of mistakes, I love to write. It helps me cement my experience and track my own journey, both inwardly as I grow in a subject, and outwardly, for the reader. Actually, you should not read this blog unless you are compelled. I am not actually writing because I want an audience or a following.

However, if you -- like me -- are interested in these things above, ie., in Hemingway, his works, his life through action, and the rest, you might enjoy checking in with me from time to time. If you are particularly interested in some of the adventures I plan for this year, and some of the insights they yield, then by all means subscribe,and follow along as we journey together.

Come, let us see where it all ends. In the words of Hemingway, "The shortest answer is just doing the thing." In other words, long before Madison Avenue, Hem was the first one to coin the phrase "Just Do It!"

So let's do it.