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Another Perspective
Hemingway in Idaho
He lived and died here, but it was one place he didn’t really write about.
The prologue of John Rember’s fine memoir of growing up in central Idaho, Traplines, opens with this:
In the early spring of 1961 a friend and I were making a snow fort on Warm Springs Avenue in Ketchum, Idaho, when Ernest Hemingway walked up and began staring at us.
After a few minutes he said, “What are you doing?”
We replied that we were making a snow fort.
A little while after that he said, “Hello, boys.”
We said hello.
“What are you doing?” he said again. We had already answered that question. He stared at us in silence for a while, and then hobbled on down the road.
This was Hemingway in the last dark months of his life, sick and confused, the result of electroshock therapy at the Mayo Clinic, and soon to perform America’s most spectacular literary suicide in his home nearby. Ironically enough, bright fall days lived amongst mountains and streams get me thinking about him. He lies next to his fourth wife Mary under a granite slab as unadorned as his best prose in the Ketchum cemetery 150 miles south of where I sit writing this. “Papa” periodically wrote, hunted, fished, and entertained friends here in the last twenty years of his life.
His first trip to Idaho was the sort of free ticket that Hemingway cultivated all his life, especially since he married his second wife, Pauline Pfeiffer, whose wealthy father financed the African safari that resulted in the pretentious Green Hills of Africa (1935). Papa never made it through America’s Great Depression on his book sales alone; he had help.
In 1939 as a public relations ploy Averell Harriman (of the Union Pacific Railroad fortune) invited the world famous author — along with Gary Cooper, Ingrid Bergman, and other Hollywood celebrities — to take up free residence at his new Sun Valley Lodge. Here Hemingway (soon to be married to his third wife Martha Gelhorn) pursued his twin recreational passions of hunting and fishing. It was at the lodge that the famous photos of him working at a typewriter outdoors were taken while he labored on his novel of the Spanish Civil War For Whom the Bell Tolls (1940). Always the world traveler in peace and war, Hemingway was absent from Idaho from 1948 to 1958. His life there can be divided between the good times of 1939-‘48 and the final dismal period of 1958-‘61, finally staying permanently when Fidel Castro’s Cuban revolution drove him from his beloved Finca Vigia estate outside of Havana. By then he was a morbidly depressed man with only a couple of years left to live.
Of all the places Hemingway lived he didn’t write about Idaho very much, only one marginal short story about antelope hunting titled “True Shot.” It was as if he sought to keep it a secret because it was the place to which he seasonally fled to escape being the public Ernest Hemingway. But there are references to the state in his letters, as he touted the sporting life to his family and friends. To his son Jack he once wrote: “You’ll love it here Schatz [nickname]…. there’s a stream here called Silver Creek where we shoot ducks from a canoe…. Saw more big trout rising than have ever seen…. Just like English chalk stream…. We’ll fish it together next year.”
Hemingway had a small circle of friends in Ketchum who were good about guarding his privacy. Lloyd Arnold was a photographer who did much work for the Sun Valley Company. His wife Tillie had first met the writer when, while working as a waitress at the lodge, she skeptically served Hemingway breakfast and two beers one morning. The writer — probably suffering a hangover, yet exhibiting his typical bravado — touted beer for breakfast as “good for the kidneys.” Bud Purdy was a local rancher and hunting companion. Taylor Williams — known as “The Colonel” — was the Sun Valley Company’s locally influential Chief Guide.
This sense of security extended to the home he and Mary bought in 1959 in Ketchum, and today owned by the Nature Conservancy and open for tours. It’s a square, cinderblock house with a rustic wood exterior. Structurally, it’s indestructible and mostly fireproof. The irony is that Hemingway in residence there in the last years of his life was falling apart physically and mentally himself. This deterioration has been well documented by Papa’s many biographers. Here’s Carlos Baker from later in that previously noted bleak spring of 1961 from the biography Ernest Hemingway: A Life. “The spring was advancing, the sagebrush was turning green, juncos and larks went flashing past the window, the snow was gone from the slopes of the mountains. But Ernest had eyes for none of this, locked as he was in the cage of his despair.”
Poor Papa. But Idaho continues to remember, celebrate, and in a few ways profit from a small part of the legacy of the American writer who truly personified the phrase “larger than life.” When the ducks fly along the Big Wood River on sunny fall days and the trout rise to the fly on Silver Creek, it’s almost as if he’s still here.
About the Author
Bill Croke, formerly of Cody, Wyoming, is a writer in Salmon, Idaho.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (37) | Leave a comment
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Tim*| 10.26.10 @ 6:47AM
Well , that was certainly uplifting.
CharlieEcho| 10.26.10 @ 7:52AM
In "high school" at seventeen my English teacher and I spared over Hemingway. She loved his writings and I had a hard time respecting his suicide. I've learned a lot in forty-one years. I still don't respect his suicide, but I may understand it. I've also collected and read more of his writings.
skip*| 10.26.10 @ 4:42PM
I've seen many posts recently about accidents of a stimulantory nature and just assumed it was an expression.
Your comment of just five words caused me to reconsider and I now believe the expression is literal not figurative.
Coffee coming out your nose is really a not very enjoyable experience.
Bob K.| 10.26.10 @ 7:00AM
A curious state, Idaho. Famous only as a vacation destination and playground for the rich and/or politically connected and where a famous writer once played and committed suicide. Nobody seems to be "from" there. Walter Johnson grew up there and left for fame in Baseball. I'm trying to think of somebody else.
Appleby| 10.26.10 @ 7:10AM
I lived in Idaho (Caldwell) for 6 weeks during the only spell when I thought it was my duty to get married to anybody who wanted to marry me. The local library was eons behind my personal library, there was nothng at all to do but go to church and do farm work, and Hemingway could not have written about Caldwell because nothing at all ever happened there.
I fled back to California with great relief, and was never really tempted either to live in the country or get married again. That was Idahos gift to me.
idalily| 10.26.10 @ 2:46PM
The feeling is mutual, my friend. As someone who fled the crime, violence, traffic, smog, loony politics, unfriendly business climate, idiotic regulations, and outrageous taxes of California for the beauty, recreation, low crime, low taxes, and friendly business attitude of Idaho, I am quite content myself. And partly because of the money I save in taxes, I have a very fine personal library. I also enjoy some of the best skiing, fishing, biking, boating, hiking, and camping to be found in the world. Nothing to do in Idaho? You weren't looking.
Greg Packard | 10.26.10 @ 6:51PM
Idaho is a gorgeous state. Between the towns of Sun Valley, Stanley and Salmon there's not much prettier anywhere in the lower 48. In addition Idaho is full of hard-working, honest, intelligent people who have common sense rarely found in larger cosmopolitan regions.
Don| 10.26.10 @ 7:46AM
I "think" Sarah Palin grew up or went to College there. I "think" I am not certain.
A beautiful state...
Nature Boy| 10.26.10 @ 9:12AM
"Atree's a tree, a rock's a rock, shoot it in "Griffith Park!"
Faffnir| 10.26.10 @ 9:19AM
Rest in peace, Papa.
Thank you, Mr. Croke.
Peppermint Tea| 10.26.10 @ 10:06AM
Ah, Idaho, the only state with two capitols...
Spokane and Salt Lake City.
idalily| 10.26.10 @ 2:48PM
You skipped geography class in school, I assume?
owyheewine| 10.26.10 @ 10:40AM
The 1.3 million of us that are lucky enough to call Idaho home are thankful for all of the misconceptions about our state. Keeps the riffraff out.
We'll continue to consume out locally grown steak with our Idaho potatoes, washed down with some of out really good Idaho wine in peace.
idalily| 10.26.10 @ 2:58PM
True that. We'll also enjoy our fresh caught Idaho trout and fresh picked Idaho huckleberries. Yep, Owyheewine, let's keep this stuff to ourselves. Ssshhh. Now, I'm off to enjoy some tailgating, drink a bit of that Idaho wine, and watch our fabulous college football team stomp the other guys on the Blue. Go Broncos!
Albert| 10.26.10 @ 3:40PM
There was a time when a wine from Idaho was literally a joke, as told by Steve Martin as the rude waiter in "The Muppet Movie". Times have changed. Idaho wines are quite good. And I speak from a Napa Valley perspective. Perhaps it is time to leave California and move to a civilized State.
Kitty| 10.27.10 @ 6:21AM
There used to be a hilarious site called Idaho Sucks, whose sole purpose was to keep those misconceptions going in order to keep to keep the riffraff out:
"Traffic jams, Burrito chains, and SUV's with huge rims and skinny tires . . . Idaho is beginning to be overrun by Californians despite our plans to keep them out. We built the bumpiest Interstates, through the skinniest and brownest parts of our state to funnel curious travelers in and out quickly. There is no doubt that the slogan, "Famous Potatoes," is the most ridiculous marketing campaign ever. It was definitely put into place by early Idaho isolationists to keep Idaho boring in the minds of outsiders. But much like the Floridians using Alligators to keep old people from moving there, these efforts have failed. Now Idaho is in dire need of YOU. Idaho needs you to get Idaho Sucks Gear so you can get the word out that Idaho Sucks!"
The site is no longer, but you can still buy "Idaho Sucks" merchandise at Cafe Press.
...
RCV| 10.28.10 @ 3:02PM
As a liberal democrat, I have to confess my love for the beauty of Idaho. I sneak up there with my brothers and with my kids whenever I can, and enjoy the stunning scenery and the delightful people. No better place in the country for long bike rides.
Matt Isch | 10.26.10 @ 11:05AM
As a lifelong Hemingway fan, I visited his grave in Ketchum on the 100th anniversary of his birth in 1999.
I think the town was expecting a wave of visitors because they'd dispatched a patrolman to watch the cemetery. When I got there in the middle of the afternoon, the policeman told me I was the first visitor of the day.
As I'd grown up near Oxford, Mississippi, I was used to the notion of people leaving bourbon on Mr. Faulkner's grave, so I thought Papa might like a small bottle of rum. As I was about to leave the bottle, the policeman looked over and shook his head. I got back in the car with the rum and left.
That's when I decided that Papa really didn't belong in Idaho.
Nick Adams| 10.29.10 @ 12:31AM
Guitar picks scattered on Jimi's grave and wire coat hangers scattered on Joan Crawford's.
I once visted Aime Semple McPherson's grave in Glendale, CA.
Never read any Hemingway but i did once read five biographies of him, simultaneously. His story was better than his stories.
A beautiful young man quickley turned into a wretched ugly old man in just a few short alcoholic years.
I have a really great photo of Papa on my shop's wall. An appropriate setting, no?
I ate the worst chicken-fried steak in my life at a diner in St Regis, Montana (near the Idaho border) in 1986, on my way back to Seattle from the Custer battlefield, where i had the pleasure of meeting and shaking hands with Russell Means.
JP| 10.26.10 @ 11:41AM
Hemingway's legacy to fiction writing was his style. Before Hemingway, prose fiction was thick with adjectives, adverbs, adverbial phrases, and long independent clauses. Hemingway was living in Paris after the Great War. He was part of that famous group of ex-Pats so much celebrated by the Literary Left. Two writers had a profound influence on him -Ezra Pound and Gertrude Stein. By 1923, Hemingway created a new form of writing. His prose was very American -almost ulitarian. Every word, every clause, and every paragraph was chosen with an ear to efficiency. His prose was sparse, economical, and very much to the point. He stressed the active voice over the passive voice. One can see Hemingway's legacy in today's newspaper writing (Hemingway began his career as a reporter), fiction writing (esp genre fiction -see Koontz and Patterson for instance), and essay writing.
But, on the other hand, the content of Hemingway's fiction must be looked at ciritically. Hemingway was a most mendacious writer. He lied about everything. To make things worse he suffered from chronic depression and alcoholism. His faux machismo persona hid a tortured soul. But, none of that prevented him from toeing the party line. His Marxism, however, didn't run deep. He was too much of an individualist to be a true believer. Marxism was more of career enahncer than anything else.
In the end, the booze got to him. During the final 5 years of his life the quality of his work was atrocious. One cannot write after consuming a quart of rum. Hemingway, however was a realist. And the realization that he could no longer write was too much to bear.
Owyhee| 10.26.10 @ 12:33PM
This is a good and relatively accurate piece. A few inaccuracies. While the UP did initially invite Hemingway to Sun Valley as their guest, it wasn't Harriman who did the inviting. The piece on Idaho that he published was titled "The Shot" , not "True Shot"and was published in True Magazine. Tillie Arnold worked in the Sun Valley camera shop, rather than as a waitress. Unfortunately, the Hemingway House in Ketchum is not open for public tours and probably never will be.
The trout do continue to rise in Silver Creek, largely because of the work of Hemingway's eldest son, Jack, who worked with the Nature Conservancy to create the Silver Creek Preserve.
There are lots of other famous Idahoans. In politics, William E. Borah, Frank Church and Cecil Andrus. In the movies, Patty Duke, William Kennedy, Mariel Hemingway and Lana Turner. Other writers include Edgar Rice Burroughs, Ezra Pound, Richard McKenna and Vardis Fisher. In sports, Jerry Kramer, Harmon Killebrew, Dan O'Brien, Vern Law and Kristin Armstrong. In Music,Gene Harris, Paul Revere, Peter Cetera. In television, nobody is more important than Philo Farnsworth, the inventor of television. In religion, Ezra Taft Benson, th elate president of the LDS Church. In the arts, Gutzon Borglum and Ed Kienholtz.
A. Murray Kahn| 10.26.10 @ 1:28PM
The house was pink - at least it was in 1964
Jim| 10.29.10 @ 9:17PM
I'd forgotten that, 1966/67 Ed and I had our "Island in a Stream" just north of the Hailey airport. Mariel came by one night and we went to the old mans house, I do remember mauve/pink and 2 stories with a basement??? God the sixities were great, surprised I still have the nuerons left to remember. He did inspire me to read and fish things I never regretted. Idaho really does suck by the way...I wouldn't bother visting if I were you:)
Jim| 10.29.10 @ 9:42PM
Did I mention the nueron problem ??? I meant to say Ketchum airport
mames| 10.26.10 @ 2:35PM
Having lived in Michigan most of my life and having been an admirer of Hemingway's work I naturally have followed the trail of his youth here. His travels around the north country from Kalkaska to Walloon, Petosky and Horton's Bay are easy to follow. I am convinced that if he were alive today he would have benefited from the wonderful medications available for deep depression. I too suffered from depression until I met a caring Pastor and a shrink friend of his who introduced me to SSRIs. I have been depression free now for over 18 years. I was always disappointed in Papa's errand lifestyle as regards his failed marriages and relationships with his children - but he sure could turn a phrase and anyone who has ever caught a fish or shot a bird on the wing can identify fully with his compacted descriptions of those activites with nostalgia and joy.
We have seen his beloved places in this state but one must look for them, his impact has diminished over time - he was only very human after all.
Michael| 10.26.10 @ 3:36PM
Sarah Palin was born in Sandpoint. Some others from Idaho include Col. Pappy Byington, CMH, Musician Mark Lindsay, and actor J.D. Cannon.
bonita| 10.28.10 @ 8:29PM
sarah palin attended the university of idaho!!!
R Newell| 10.28.10 @ 10:29PM
......but did not graduate.
Drifter| 10.28.10 @ 11:41PM
Palin graduated from the University of Idaho in 1987 with a bachelor's degree in communications (emphasis in journalism.
KyMouse| 10.26.10 @ 4:21PM
Thanks for the memories, Mr. Croke.
I've been to Idaho only once, in the summer of 1973, but I loved it so much that I was tempted to move there (at the tender age of 21).
I was kayaking wild rivers that summer with a group of friends from Atlanta. We ran the Lochsa and the Selway, among others. One night when there was a full moon, I saw one of the most beautiful sights I've ever seen:
We camped in the valley among several hillsides that we had noticed in the daylight were sprinkled with pyrite (fool's gold). When the full moon came up late that night, the hillsides as far as we could see turned a glittering gold.
That was back in the days before everybody had video cameras or cell phone cameras, so I have to enjoy it only in my memory. But I certainly do.
ton| 10.27.10 @ 3:13PM
A state that was hom to Hem and Ezra Pound (however briefly) has little to apologize for. In spite of political confusion and tortured egos, they tower above the weak-limbed, university-spawned, government-funcded lilliputians who masquerade as writes for the Ophra and NYT crowd.
May God bless them both; and receive them into everlasting peace.
twittering as stocktradr| 10.28.10 @ 2:15AM
"And there could be no better place to learn than the" Idaho "of my youth."
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