Date: 2-25-01
VOICE ONE:
I'M SHIRLEY GRIFFITH.
VOICE TWO:
AND I'M FRANK OLIVER WITH PEOPLE IN AMERICA, A SPECIAL
ENGLISH PROGRAM ABOUT PEOPLE WHO WERE IMPORTANT IN THE HISTORY OF
THE UNITED STATES.
TODAY, WE TELL ABOUT THE LIFE OF WRITER
ERNEST HEMINGWAY.
(THEME)
VOICE ONE:
"A WRITER IS ALWAYS ALONE, ALWAYS AN OUTSIDER," ERNEST HEMINGWAY
SAID.
OTHERS SAID THAT OF THE MANY PEOPLE HE CREATED IN HIS BOOKS,
HEMINGWAY WAS HIS OWN BEST CREATION.
ERNEST HEMINGWAY WAS BORN IN EIGHTEEN-NINETY-FIVE.
HE GREW UP IN
OAK PARK, ILLINOIS, NEAR THE MIDDLE WESTERN CITY OF CHICAGO.
HE
WAS THE SECOND CHILD IN A FAMILY OF SIX.
HIS FATHER WAS A
DOCTOR.
HIS MOTHER LIKED TO PAINT AND PLAY THE PIANO.
EACH SUMMER THE FAMILY TRAVELLED TO THEIR HOLIDAY HOME IN
NORTHERN MICHIGAN.
ERNEST'S FATHER TAUGHT HIM HOW TO CATCH FISH,
HUNT, SET UP A CAMP AND COOK OVER A FIRE.
AT HOME IN OAK PARK, ERNEST WROTE FOR HIS SCHOOL NEWSPAPER.
HE
TRIED TO WRITE LIKE A FAMOUS SPORTS WRITER OF THAT TIME, RING
LARDNER.
HE DEVELOPED HIS WRITING SKILLS THIS WAY.
VOICE TWO:
IN NINETEEN-SEVENTEEN, HEMINGWAY DECIDED NOT TO GO TO A
UNIVERSITY.
THE UNITED STATES HAD JUST ENTERED WORLD WAR ONE AND
HE WANTED TO JOIN THE ARMY.
BUT THE ARMY REJECTED HIM BECAUSE
HIS EYESIGHT WAS NOT GOOD ENOUGH.
ERNEST FOUND A JOB WITH THE KANSAS CITY STAR NEWSPAPER IN KANSAS
CITY, MISSOURI.
HE REPORTED NEWS FROM THE HOSPITAL, POLICE
HEADQUARTERS, AND THE RAILROAD STATION.
ONE REPORTER REMEMBERED:
"HEMINGWAY LIKED TO BE WHERE THE ACTION WAS."
THE KANSAS CITY STAR DEMANDED THAT ITS REPORTERS WRITE SHORT
SENTENCES.
IT WANTED REPORTERS TO SEE THE UNUSUAL DETAILS IN AN
INCIDENT.
HEMINGWAY QUICKLY LEARNED TO DO BOTH.
HE WORKED FOR THE NEWSPAPER ONLY NINE MONTHS BEFORE HE JOINED THE
RED CROSS TO HELP ON THE BATTLEFIELDS OF EUROPE.
HIS JOB WAS TO
DRIVE A RED CROSS TRUCK CARRYING WOUNDED AWAY FROM BATTLE.
VOICE ONE:
THE RED CROSS SENT HIM TO ITALY.
SOON HE SAW HIS FIRST WOUNDED
WHEN AN ARMS FACTORY IN MILAN EXPLODED.
LATER, HE WAS SENT TO
THE BATTLE FRONT.
HE WENT AS CLOSE TO THE FIGHTING AS POSSIBLE
TO SEE HOW HE WOULD ACT IN THE FACE OF DANGER.
BEFORE LONG, HE
WAS SERIOUSLY WOUNDED.
THE WAR ENDED SOON AFTER HE HEALED.
HEMINGWAY RETURNED TO THE
UNITED STATES.
LESS THAN A YEAR HAD PASSED SINCE HE WENT TO
EUROPE.
BUT IN THAT SHORT TIME HE HAD CHANGED FOREVER.
HE
NEEDED TO WRITE ABOUT WHAT HE HAD SEEN.
VOICE TWO:
ERNEST HEMINGWAY LEFT HOME FOR CHICAGO TO PROVE TO HIMSELF, AND
TO HIS FAMILY, THAT HE COULD EARN A LIVING FROM HIS WRITING.
BUT, HE RAN OUT OF MONEY AND BEGAN TO WRITE FOR A NEWSPAPER
AGAIN.
THE CANADIAN NEWSPAPER, THE TORONTO STAR, LIKED HIS
REPORTS ABOUT LIFE IN CHICAGO AND PAID HIM WELL.
VOICE ONE:
IN CHICAGO, HEMINGWAY MET THE WRITER SHERWOOD ANDERSON. ANDERSON WAS ONE OF THE FIRST WRITERS IN AMERICA TO WRITE ABOUT THE LIVES OF COMMON PEOPLE. HEMINGWAY SAW THAT ANDERSON'S STORIES SHOWED LIFE AS IT REALLY WAS, THE WAY HEMINGWAY WAS TRYING TO DO.
ANDERSON GAVE HEMINGWAY ADVICE ABOUT HIS WRITING.
HE TOLD
HEMINGWAY TO MOVE TO PARIS, WHERE LIVING WAS LESS COSTLY.
HE
SAID PARIS WAS FULL OF YOUNG ARTISTS AND WRITERS FROM ALL OVER
THE WORLD.
IN RETURN FOR ANDERSON'S KINDNESS HEMINGWAY WROTE A BOOK CALLED
THE TORRENTS OF SPRING.
IT MAKES FUN OF ANDERSON AND THE WAY HE
WROTE.
THERE WAS SOMETHING IN HEMINGWAY THAT COULD NOT SAY
"THANK YOU" TO ANYONE.
HE HAD TO BELIEVE HE DID EVERYTHING FOR
HIMSELF, EVEN WHEN HE KNEW OTHERS HELPED HIM.
VOICE TWO:
HEMINGWAY DECIDED TO MOVE TO PARIS.
BUT BEFORE HE DID HE MARRIED
A WOMAN HE HAD RECENTLY MET.
HER NAME WAS HADLEY RICHARDSON.
PARIS WAS COLD AND GRAY WHEN HEMINGWAY AND HIS NEW WIFE ARRIVED
IN NINETEEN-TWENTY-ONE.
THEY LIVED IN ONE OF THE POORER PARTS OF
THE CITY.
THEIR ROOMS WERE SMALL AND HAD NO RUNNING WATER.
BUT
THE TORONTO STAR EMPLOYED HIM AS ITS EUROPEAN REPORTER, SO THERE
WAS ENOUGH MONEY FOR THE TWO OF THEM TO LIVE.
AND THE JOB GAVE
HEMINGWAY TIME TO WRITE HIS STORIES.
VOICE ONE:
HEMINGWAY ENJOYED EXPLORING PARIS, MAKING NEW FRIENDS, LEARNING
FRENCH CUSTOMS AND SPORTS.
SOME NEW FRIENDS WERE ARTISTS AND
WRITERS WHO HAD COME TO PARIS IN THE NINETEEN-TWENTIES.
AMONG
THEM WERE POET, EZRA POUND, AND WRITERS GERTRUDE STEIN, JOHN DOS
PASSOS, AND F.
SCOTT FITZGERALD.
THEY QUICKLY SAW THAT HEMINGWAY
WAS A GOOD WRITER.
THEY HELPED HIM PUBLISH HIS STORIES IN THE
UNITED STATES.
HE WAS THANKFUL FOR THEIR SUPPORT AT THE TIME,
BUT LATER DENIED THAT HE HAD RECEIVED HELP.
AS A REPORTER, HEMINGWAY TRAVELLED ALL OVER EUROPE.
HE WROTE
ABOUT POLITICS.
HE WROTE ABOUT PEACE CONFERENCES AND BORDER
DISPUTES.
AND HE WROTE ABOUT SPORTS, SKIING AND FISHING.
LATER
HE WOULD WRITE ABOUT BULL FIGHTING IN SPAIN.
THE TORONTO STAR
WAS PLEASED WITH HIS WORK, AND WANTED MORE OF HIS REPORTS.
BUT
HEMINGWAY WAS BUSY WITH HIS OWN WRITING.
HE SAID: "SOMETIMES, I WOULD START A NEW STORY AND COULD NOT GET
IT GOING.
THEN I WOULD STAND AND LOOK OUT OVER THE ROOFS OF
PARIS AND THINK.
I WOULD SAY TO MYSELF: 'ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS
WRITE ONE TRUE SENTENCE.
WRITE THE TRUEST SENTENCE YOU KNOW.
SO
FINALLY, I WOULD WRITE A TRUE SENTENCE AND GO ON FROM THERE.
IT
WAS A WONDERFUL FEELING WHEN I HAD WORKED WELL."
VOICE TWO:
HEMINGWAY'S FIRST BOOK OF STORIES WAS CALLED IN OUR TIME.
IT
INCLUDED A STORY, CALLED "BIG TWO HEARTED RIVER," ABOUT THE
EFFECT OF WAR ON A YOUNG MAN.
IT TELLS ABOUT THE YOUNG MAN TAKING A LONG FISHING TRIP IN
MICHIGAN.
HEMINGWAY HAD LEARNED FROM HIS FATHER WHEN HE WAS A
BOY ABOUT LIVING IN THE WILD.
THE STORY IS ABOUT TWO KINDS OF RIVERS.
ONE IS CALM AND CLEAR.
IT IS WHERE THE YOUNG MAN FISHES.
THE OTHER IS DARK.
IT IS A
SWAMP, A THREATENING PLACE.
THE STORY SHOWS THE YOUNG MAN TRYING TO FORGET HIS PAST.
HE IS
ALSO TRYING TO FORGET THE WAR.
YET HE NEVER REALLY SPEAKS ABOUT
IT.
THE READER LEARNS ABOUT THE YOUNG MAN, NOT BECAUSE HEMINGWAY
TELLS US WHAT THE YOUNG MAN THINKS, BUT BECAUSE HE SHOWS THE
YOUNG MAN LEARNING ABOUT HIMSELF.
"BIG TWO HEARTED RIVER" IS CONSIDERED ONE OF THE BEST MODERN
AMERICAN STORIES.
IT IS OFTEN PUBLISHED IN COLLECTIONS OF BEST
WRITING.
VOICE ONE:
AFTER THE BOOK WAS PUBLISHED IN NINETEEN-TWENTY-FIVE, HADLEY AND
HEMINGWAY RETURNED TO THE UNITED STATES FOR THE BIRTH OF THEIR
SON.
THEY QUICKLY RETURNED TO PARIS.
HEMINGWAY WAS WORKING ON A LONG STORY.
HE WANTED TO PUBLISH A
NOVEL SO HE WOULD BE RECOGNIZED AS A SERIOUS WRITER.
AND HE
WANTED THE MONEY A NOVEL WOULD EARN.
THE NOVEL WAS CALLED THE SUN ALSO RISES.
IT IS ABOUT YOUNG
AMERICANS IN EUROPE AFTER WORLD WAR ONE.
THE WAR HAD DESTROYED
THEIR DREAMS.
AND IT HAD GIVEN THEM NOTHING TO REPLACE THOSE
DREAMS.
THE WRITER GERTRUDE STEIN LATER CALLED THESE PEOPLE
MEMBERS OF "THE LOST GENERATION."
VOICE TWO:
THE BOOK WAS AN IMMEDIATE SUCCESS.
AT THE AGE OF TWENTY-FIVE
ERNEST HEMINGWAY WAS FAMOUS.
MANY PEOPLE, HOWEVER, COULD NOT RECOGNIZE HEMINGWAY'S ART BECAUSE THEY DID NOT LIKE WHAT HE WROTE ABOUT. HEMINGWAY'S SENTENCES WERE SHORT, THE WAY HE HAD BEEN TAUGHT TO WRITE AT THE KANSAS CITY STAR NEWSPAPER. HE WROTE ABOUT WHAT HE KNEW AND FELT. HE USED FEW DESCRIPTIVE WORDS. HIS STATEMENTS WERE CLEAR AND EASILY UNDERSTOOD.
HE HAD LEARNED FROM EARLIER WRITERS, LIKE RING LARDNER AND
SHERWOOD ANDERSON.
BUT HEMINGWAY BROUGHT SOMETHING NEW TO HIS
WRITING.
HE WAS ABLE TO PAINT IN WORDS WHAT HE SAW AND FELT.
IN
LATER BOOKS, SOMETIMES HE MISSED.
SOMETIMES HE EVEN LOOKED
FOOLISH.
BUT WHEN HE WAS RIGHT HE WAS ALMOST PERFECT.
VOICE ONE:
WITH THE SUCCESS OF HIS NOVEL, HEMINGWAY BECAME EVEN MORE
POPULAR IN PARIS.
MANY PEOPLE CAME TO SEE HIM.
ONE WAS AN
AMERICAN WOMAN, PAULINE PFEIFFER.
SHE BECAME HADLEY'S FRIEND.
THEN PAULINE FELL IN LOVE WITH HEMINGWAY.
HEMINGWAY AND PAULINE SAW EACH OTHER SECRETLY.
ONE TIME, THEY
WENT AWAY TOGETHER ON A SHORT TRIP.
YEARS LATER, HEMINGWAY WROTE
ABOUT RETURNING HOME AFTER THAT TRIP:
"WHEN I SAW HADLEY AGAIN, I WISHED I HAD DIED BEFORE I EVER LOVED
ANYONE BUT HER.
SHE WAS SMILING AND THE SUN WAS ON HER LOVELY
FACE."
BUT THE MARRIAGE WAS OVER.
ERNEST HEMINGWAY AND HADLEY
SEPARATED.
SHE KEPT THEIR SON.
HE AGREED TO GIVE HER MONEY HE
EARNED FROM HIS BOOKS.
IN LATER YEARS, HE LOOKED BACK AT HIS MARRIAGE TO HADLEY AS THE
HAPPIEST TIME OF HIS LIFE.
(THEME)
VOICE TWO:
THIS PEOPLE IN AMERICA PROGRAM WAS WRITTEN BY RICHARD THORMAN AND BILL ROGERS. I'M FRANK OLIVER.
VOICE ONE:
AND I'M SHIRLEY GRIFFITH.
JOIN US AGAIN NEXT WEEK FOR THE FINAL
PART OF THE STORY OF ERNEST HEMINGWAY IN SPECIAL ENGLISH ON THE
VOICE OF AMERICA.