Ernest Hemingway

             Ernest Hemingway was born on July 21, 1899 in Oak Park Illinois. Hemingway was the second child of Dr. Clarence and Grace Hall. He was raised with Midwestern values of hard work, strong religion, and good physical fitness. The conservative town of Oak Park was isolated from the seedy Chicago and Hemmingway would later regard it as a town of, "wide lawns and narrow minds." .
             As a young boy his father taught him to hunt and fish. He was introduced to the out-doors which attracted him his whole life. The family would often spend summers at Walloon Lake in Michigan. Back at Oak Park Hemingway would fill his hours with football, boxing, and writing for the school newspaper. .
             When Hemingway graduated in 1917 he opted to pass on the opportunity to go to college. Instead he went to work for the Kansas City Star. It was at this company that he learned many techniques that he would apply to his work throughout his career. At the break of World War 1 Hemingway enlisted to the Army. He was rejected due to an eye injury of an earlier date. Instead of fighting Hemingway became and ambulance driver for the Red Cross. In 1817 he was seriously wounded while working in Italy and locals decorated him for his bravery. .
             After he recovered in Italy he signed on as a foreign correspondent for the Toronto Star. There after he moved to Paris where he was to write his first major publication, In Our Time (1925). The compilation of short stories gathered much attention due to its sharp style and brutal subjects. The following year Hemingway published his first major novel, The Sun Also Rises. This story of life after the war gathered him fame that would stretch throughout his life. .
             In the years to follow he was divorced from three wives Hadley Richardson, Pauline Pfeiffer, and Martha Gellhorn. After which he spent much time in Spain, Africa, and Florida. He consumed his days with game hunting, deep-sea fishing, and becoming a connoisseur of bull fighting.