Ernest Hemingway

Ernest Hemingway was born on July 21, 1899 in Oak Park, Illinois to parents Clarence and Grace Hemingway. As a young boy Hemingway took after his father when it came to a choice of lifestyle. He showed that he was more interested in the outdoors and sports instead of music, which was what his mother hoped that he would learn to love. These interests that Hemingway developed would turn out to be what would shape his life in later years. While in high school Hemingway excelled in academics especially English. He would later put these skills to use we he had his first job as a cub reporter for The Kansas City Star. Even though he only stayed with the paper a few months the style he learned to use would stay with him his entire career as a writer. Hemingway left the star because he had decided to enter World War I. He was a volunteer ambulance driver in Italy. On July 8, 1918 he was wounded by an Austria trench mortar while delivering supplies to the battle front. The injuries he sustained from the blast ended his days as and ambulance driver but Hemingway received the Silver Medal of Military Valor from the Italian government. In 1921 Hemingway married his first wife Hadley Richardson and shortly after moved to Paris to live. While there he covered such events as the Greek Revolution for American and Canadian newspapers. In 1927 Hemingway converted to Catholicism and divorced Richardson and was remarried to Pauline Pfeiffer. In 1928 his father committed suicide after losing his health. As a wedding gift Hemingway received a home in Key West, Florida. During these times he traveled to Spain frequently to obtain research for his writings on bullfighting. He also covered such events as the Spanish Civil War. Hemingway had found a new home in Spain but it wad lost when the fascist won the war in 1939. He would also lose his beloved home in Key West due to divorce in 1940. In 1941 Hemingway as a correspondent took part in the d day invasion of France. He came on the ninth wave of troops to report on the action but it was done with by the time he reached the beaches of Normandy. After the war was over Hemingway wrote "The Old Man and the Sea" published in 1952. In 1953 he won the Pulitzer Prize and in 1954 he won the Nobel Prize for Literature. Shortly after this Hemingway went on a safari and he suffered injuries in two successive plane crashes. Hemingway's injuries were serious; he sprained his right shoulder, arm, and left leg, had a grave concussion,