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The Key West Art and Historical Society celebrated author Ernest Hemingway’s 110th birthday July 21 with a birthday cake and reception at the historic Key West Museum of Art & History at the Custom House, 281 Front St. The birthday party followed a one-man theatrical debut showcasing Hemingway’s World War II years, that was written and performed by Canadian playwright and actor Brian Gordon Sinclair.
The two events kicked off the annual Hemingway Days festival honoring the author’s literary prowess, exuberant lifestyle and affection for Key West.
Hemingway, who lived in Key West throughout the 1930s, chose the island as the setting for “To Have and Have Not,” his only novel that took place in the United States. When he wasn’t writing, he spent many leisure hours fishing in the Gulf Stream. Influenced by his longtime friend Josie “Sloppy Joe” Russell, Hemingway fell in love with the Stream and the fish that flourished in its warm waters.
In fact, “To Have and Have Not” began as a collection of short stories that Hemingway wrote in Key West and on his first trips to Havana, Cuba, with Russell and other Key West friends. The significance of the book, scholars have said, is that Hemingway loved Key West, the Stream, and Cuba — and felt it necessary to connect them to create his only American-themed novel.
Many of the landmarks mentioned in the book still exist in Key West — such as the waterfront bank robbed by Cuban revolutionaries in the novel, based on an edifice at Duval and Front streets, and the lighthouse across from Hemingway’s Whitehead Street home. Fans of the author’s life can use “To Have and Have Not” as a travel guide and walk the same streets the author did.
Hemingway buffs will be particularly intrigued by the exhibition at the Key West Museum of Art & History that celebrates Hemingway’s life in Key West and other locales. Highlights include fishing gear from Russell’s boat that Hemingway used regularly until he had his boat, called the Pilar, built. Coincidentally, he kept the Pilar in the harbor behind the Custom House.
The Hemingway exhibition also features documents and photographs from that era, including many rare family photographs.
The society’s collection of Hemingway memorabilia, however, is not limited to the years the Nobel Prize-winning author lived in Key West. Also on exhibit is the bloodied Italian ambulance driver’s uniform Hemingway was wearing when a shell exploded, crushed his knee, and sent hundreds of pieces of shrapnel into his body — pieces that stayed imbedded throughout his life.
To open Hemingway Days 2009, the society, in association with Brian Gordon Sinclair, presented the world premiere of Sinclair’s “Hemingway On Stage V: The Death Factory.” The fifth play in Sinclair’s six-part theatrical examination of Hemingway’s life, the performance was scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday, July 21, at the Waterfront Playhouse at Mallory Square.
Brian Gordon Sinclair is considered the foremost dramatic interpreter of Hemingway in the world today. According to Sinclair, the title “The Death Factory” refers to the entirety of World War II and its prelude, and specifically to the battle of Hurtgen Forest where thousands of lives where sacrificed.
Directly after the play’s debut, Sinclair presented Canada’s Hemingway On Stage Award.
Tickets for the play were $10 per adult and $5 per student, with prices including admission to the post-performance reception and birthday party at the Custom House. All proceeds go to the Key West Art and Historical Society for the maintenance of its Hemingway collection.
Sinclair also presented a second performance at 11 a.m. Thursday, July 23 — a memorial matinee in honor of the late Jean Klausing, who was a great friend and guiding spirit of Hemingway Days.
For more information about the Hemingway exhibit, call the Key West Museum of Art & HIstory at (305) 295-6616 For additional information about Sinclair and his Hemingway On Stage series, visit www.briangordonsinclair.com.
If you are a member of the media and would like to receive more information and/or pictures, please contact: communications@kwahs.org