How is it a man that seemed to have so much going for him decides to check out when the weather was starting to melt the snow pack in the high country of the nearby Sawtooths? Hard to know really. A dead man tells no tales. The year was 1961, the month July, the place…Hemingway’s house in Ketchum or Sun Valley… those two places are so intertwined they might as well be one place. Bam, considered to be the greatest writer of his generation is gone. It’s just sad, really. Why?
Seems like Hemingway’s final brush with death wasn’t his first. He was a man who liked to do manly things, maybe to a fault. He also was very creative, an artist of the highest caliber, with an artist’ temperament and a thirst for the alcohol bigger than the state of Montana. I would say Texas but that’s just not possible. Of all the things known about the manliness writer in Idaho, it was well known he rarely if ever listened to the music of Prince. If Prince were alive today and making music in the late 50’s, early 60’s, no doubt Ernest would have heard it and been happier for it. Maybe avoiding his eventual self-demise.
So which books of Hemingway’s were written in Idaho. Hard to say. I’m sure someone knows such things but we know Ernest was courted to visit Idaho by Sun Valley founder Averill Harriman in 1939. Hemingway allowed himself to be lured here from where? Maybe his beloved perch in the Florida Keys? Key West? Those are two very different places, Key West and Ketchum, Idaho.
Places have a powerful Sway over Hemingway and inform his writing. Africa, Europe, Idaho, Key West. What is it about the Wood River Valley that lured the man to move here and call this place home? Hunting, fishing, mountains, skiiing…. all manly things. That’s why Arnold visits here regularly, Bruce Willis, Demi, so many over the years have called Sun Valley, Ketchum, and Hailey home. Come visit here and you’ll see why. Though it’s an international resort, the town still retains some of its Idaho flavor and charm. And if Idaho is one thing, it is a lack of pretension. Celebrities must find that super refreshing where they can just be themselves and not have the locals make such a fuss. That’s a place worth repeat visits.
Living in a place like this, how could anyone be depressed enough to take their own life? Inconceivable right? I know, I’m right there with you. Cool, cool, cool. But the depression must have ran deep with Ernest and his manly Idaho pursuits were no longer enough, even on a beautiful Idaho Warm Springs day
The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are strong at the broken places.
There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.
If we win here we will win everywhere. The world is a fine place and worth the fighting for and I hate very much to leave it.
The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them.
I love sleep. My life has the tendency to fall apart when I’m awake, you know?
Sleep well Ernest! A good thing.
ZandMe's 999 Good Things 