Hemingway and Mormonism

Hemingway and Mormonism

Ain t this Mormon country wonderful! Cooper said. They know how to live. I m practically one myself, Ernest said. Had four wives, didn t I? He took a sip of wine. To tell the truth, if I were reborn and I had a choice, I d be a Mormon. Hotchner, A. E. Papa Hemingway; a Personal Memoir,. New York: Random House, 1966. Print.

I was aware of the quote in Hotchner s book but had always assumed it was said tongue in cheek. I don t want to disappoint you, but I presumably do not believe that Mormonism was a matter of serious concern to my father. As a matter of interest it seems that the Hemingways in northern Utah and SE Idaho have a common ancestor with my father s. He left his family in Connecticut, remarried and converted to Mormonism and went to Utah. Hemingway, Jack. Letter to Author. 5 Nov 1988.

Ernest Hemingway was very sympathetic towards Mormons, and had several Mormon friends. (He had many Mormon relatives mainly in Utah and Idaho back in the 19th century.) You might write to his former sister-in-law on genealogy: Mrs. Patricia Hemingway. Scribner, Charles. Letter to Author. 30 Sept 1988

Unfortunately I have no information for you about Ernest and the Mormons. We have a cousin who is Mormon, but he doesn t remember ever seeing Ernest. The only other Hemingway that was Mormon that I can recall, out of some 538 Hemingway families, was Luther Lachoneus & he lived 1840-1930. He was not in our line of Hemingways though. You would probably get more from Ernest s Mormon friends. His sons, Jack or Patrick might know who they were. Hemingway, Patricia. Letter to Author. 17 Oct 1988.

Hemingway Biographers George Wickes (University of Oregon) Melvin J. Friedman (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee) Phillip Young (Penn State) Linda Wagner-Martin (University of North Carolina/President Hemingway Society) Mark Spilka (Brown University) Earl Rovit (City College of New York) Jackson J. Benson (SDSU) Will Underwood (Kent) Matthew Bruccoli (University of South Carolina) Edward Stanton (University of Kentucky) John Raeburn (University of Iowa) Rena Sanderson (Boise State) Jeffrey Meyers (University of Colorado) Bernice Kert (author The Hemingway Women) Marsha Bellavance (author Hemingway in Sun Valley)

I don t think you ll find enough information for a research paper on Hemingway and Mormonism. His contact with Mormons was virtually nil, though he lived near them in Idaho. You completely miss his joking tone, when quoted by Hotchner. He s drinking when he says he d like to be a Mormon and he says that because it would allow him to be a polygamist! Meyers, Jeffery. Letter to Author. Oct 25 1988.

No, I never heard of anything about Hemingway & the Mormons. But even if your quote appeared in Hotchner that doesn t mean he never said it conceivably to Cooper. More likely if the line is his, Hotch copied it from a letter or something. But that would still be EH s line. My main feeling is that if the remark is his, he was kidding. He had some admiration for Catholicism for a while, but aside from that.... I would take it as sarcasm rather than tongue in cheek. An alcoholic Mormon who started drinking in his teens? Who believed in drinking! I would agree with Meyers, whom I know except for what Charlie Scribner told you. Overall I d believe him. But where is the evidence?... But I really think if EH said or wrote it he probably though it would seem sufficiently ridiculous in itself. Young, Phillip. Letter to Author. March 6, 1989.

It would be good to know the context of the quote. Good chance that Hemingway made the comment to Gary Cooper at one of the parties that took place in Sun Valley and Ketchum. By the time Hemingway partied with Gary Cooper, he was married to his third wife Martha Gellhorn, and I would guess that the remark was an indirect reference to the Mormon practice of polygamy. Sanderson, Rena. Letter to Author. Jan 24, 2005.

In fact, I can t remember a single reference to Mormons or Mormonism in his writings. Charles Scribner s word certainly carries more weight than A.E. Hotchner s, and I d be inclined to agree with Jeffrey Meyers that the Hotchner quotation is not to betaken seriously. Hotcher is not the most reliable source, and he seems sometimes to have taken literally things that were not meant to be. Wickes, George. Letter to Author. March 8, 1989

I m afraid I can t help you, because I don t recall Hemingway saying anything one way or another about Mormonism, including the quotation in Hotchner, although I must have read it (30 or more years ago) without it making any impression. He probably did have Mormon acquaintances in the West, but that would hardly be unusual. Raeburn, John. Letter to Author. March 9, 2005.

He was a great man a deep thinker, he spent a lot of time pondering and thinking, I wouldn t be surprised if he did not think about the Mormons. There was one time when I refused a cup of coffee, he [EH] said to me, oh so you re one of the good Mormons aren t you.... He respected people who lived their belief, he didn t have any time for a person who did not live their belief. Hansen, Art. Personal Interview.

Hemingway s religious views V: Did EH ever mention anything about Mormonism? A: No, not that I remember, we did share a few things hat are just between myself and him--we really did not talk much, he was spiritual and had a strong belief in God-he did not doubt that there was a life after this he did his thing and then he left. Hansen, Art. Personal Interview.

In general, he was pretty consistently skeptical about organized religion except, possibly, for a vague sympathy with Roman Catholicism when he was in Italy during the WWI and lasting into his 20s, after which it evaporated, as far as I know. Raeburn, John. Letter to Author. March 9, 2005.

If Hemingway could believe in any church, it was the Catholic, as he affirmed several times in his correspondence. He said that it was the only church he could take seriously. However, he left it at least once because of the Catholic Church s support of he illegal fascist movement of General Franco in Spain and ended up committing suicide, a cardinal sin in Catholicism. Stanton, Edward. Letter to Author. March 9, 2005.

Kvam quotes Ernest as saying love allows man to approach the spiritual and the transcendent. Although Hemingway may explore Christian values, this is not to say that he is a Christian writer. Kvam, Wayne E. Hemingway in Germany. Ohio University Press, 1973.

Ernest was raised in the Congregational Church in Oak Park. Married Pauline who was Catholic and I am told he had a Catholic burial, so I assume Mary was Catholic too. Hemingway, Patricia. Letter to Author. 17 Oct 1988.

Bud Purdy and Ernest Hemingway

Hemingway in Idaho

Bud Purdy: Hemingway was tolerant of all religions and interested in them too. I never heard him say an unkind or critical word against any religion or against any believer of any faith. But I remember he often called this area around Sun Valley Mormon Country. He had a friend, Dick Adamson from Carey, Idaho who hunted with him. I believe Dick was some kind of leader in the Mormon Church, a stake president, maybe. I think that statement about Mormons in Hotchner s book is a kind of a joke. But he did respect the Mormons he knew around here. The Mormons are pretty well respected around this country I can say that much about it. My wife and my daughter in law threaten to give me a Mormon funeral. Purdy, Bud. Personal Interview.

(Bud Purdy, holding a gun Hemingway had sent him from Spain in the 1950 s)

Pauline Pfeiffer (above) Elizabeth Hadley Richardson (above) Martha Gellhorn (left) and Mary Welsh (above)

Hemingway s Temple Work Baptism: Sept 14 th 1990 Jordan River Endowment: Sept 14 th 1990 Jordan River Sealed to Parents: June 03 1994 Ogden Sealed to Spouse(s): Elizabeth Hadley Richardson April 16 th 1998 Provo Pauline Pfeiffer April 16 th 1998 Provo Martha Gellhorn April 16 th 1998 Provo Mary Welsh April 16 th 1998 Provo

On November 10, 1946, Mary, Ernest, and Charles Sweeny drove to Salt Lake City, Utah to hunt briefly before driving down south to Arizona. Hemingway, Ernest. Ernest Hemingway, Selected Letters, 1917-1961. Ed. Carlos Baker. New York: Scribner, 1981. p. 612. Print. Reynolds, Michael S. Hemingway: The Final Years. New York: W.W. Norton, 1999. p. 150. Print. Reynolds, Michael S. Hemingway: An Annotated Chronology. Detroit (Mich.): Omnigraphics, 1991. p. 109. Print.