I fell in love with Ernest “Papa” Hemingway in middle school.
Not with the man. I was too young to grasp the complexities of who “Papa” really was. But with his writing. That sparse, muscular prose hit me like a lightning bolt between the eyes.
Until then, I only read books and stories when I had to—for school. We were assigned so much “literature”—packed with dense descriptions, heavy-handed metaphors, and overflowing with moral lessons—that “reading for fun” was like a foreign language.
But after I read The Old Man and the Sea for class, something shifted.
The book was so direct and so quiet. And yet, beneath those short, simple sentences lay an emotional depth that swallowed me whole.
Here was a writer who made every word count. Who stripped language bare and still conveyed oceans of feeling. The man. The sea. The struggle. The isolation.
It all spoke to something deep inside me. Even then. Even now.
I resonated with so much of it: the simplicity, the stoicism, the understated heroism. The way his characters endured loss and pain with dignity—even when no one else was watching.
Back then, I didn’t yet have the language for it, but I recognized the ache of solitude, the quiet longing for connection hidden between the lines.
And while Hemingway’s world was unapologetically heterosexual, I was not.
As a prepubescent adolescent trying to make sense of my own identity, I didn’t see myself reflected in Papa’s stories. But I saw who I thought I was supposed to be—or maybe who I wanted to be: brave, strong, noble in suffering, forever searching for peace, even if I never found it.
Looking back now, I can see the cracks in the Hemingway myth. The bravado. The macho posturing. The blind spots for lives outside his own. The depression. The disappointment. But none of that erases the impact he had on me.
He taught me that simple doesn’t mean shallow. That pain doesn’t need to shout to be heard. That language, when used with care, can cut straight to the heart of things.
In middle school, I didn’t fall in love with Hemingway because I understood him.
I fell in love because, in some quiet, surprising way, it felt like he understood me.
Keep calm and carry on!
Clint 🌈✌️
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ON THIS DAY = JULY 21
BIRTHDAYS
1816 = Paul Reuter = German-English journalist and Reuters founder
1898 = Sara Carter = American singer-songwriter
1899 = Ernest Hemingway = American writer and Nobel Prize laureate
1899 = Hart Crane = American poet 🌈
1900 = Isadora Bennett = American theatre manager and dance publicity agent
1903 = Russell Lee = American photographer and journalist
1924 = Don Knotts = American actor, comedian, and screenwriter
1926 = Norman Jewison = Canadian actor and filmmaker
1933 = John Gardner = American novelist, essayist, and critic
1934 = Jonathan Miller = English actor, director, and author
1943 = Edward Herrmann = American actor
1946 = Timothy Harris = American author, screenwriter and producer
1948 = Cat Stevens = English singer-songwriter
1948 = Garry Trudeau = American cartoonist
1951 = Robin Williams = American actor and comedian
1952 = George Wallace = American comedian and actor
1956 = Michael Connelly = American author
1957 = Jon Lovitz = American comedian, actor, and producer
1978 = Damian Marley = Jamaican singer-songwriter
1978 = Josh Hartnett = American actor
1989 = Rory Culkin = American actor
1978 = Josh Hartnett = American actor
EVENTS
1865 = In the market square of Springfield, Missouri, Wild Bill Hickok shoots and kills Davis Tutt in what is regarded as the first western showdown.
1873 = At Adair, Iowa, Jesse James and the James–Younger Gang pull off the first successful train robbery in the American Old West.
1904 = Louis Rigolly, a Frenchman, becomes the first man to break the 100 mph (161 km/h) barrier on land. He drove a 15-liter Gobron-Brillié in Ostend, Belgium.
1925 = Malcolm Campbell becomes the first man to exceed 150 mph (241 km/h) on land. At Pendine Sands in Wales, he drives Sunbeam 350HP built by Sunbeam at a two-way average speed of 150.33 mph (242 km/h).
1969 = Neil Armstrong becomes the first person to walk on the Moon, followed 19 minutes later by Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin.
1979 = Jay Silverheels, a Mohawk actor, becomes the first Native American to have a star commemorated in the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
1995 = Living In Oblivion is released in theaters.
HOLIDAYS + OBSERVANCES
PORTRAIT + QUOTES OF THE DAY
“The world breaks everyone, and afterward, many are strong at the broken places.”
Ernest Hemingway
“Never confuse movement with action.”
Ernest Hemingway
Very nice piece on Hemingway.
I'm thinking if you had seen photos of Hemingway when you were in middle school, you would have fallen in love with the man. He was astonishing handsome in is youth. And soooooo masculine! Heart throbbing!
What a timely gift that must have been.