Studies of Ernest Hemingway in Michigan

"...In 1916 Ernest Hemingway briefly visited several small northern Michigan towns, including Kalkaska. It is apparent by looking at excerpts from the journal that Hemingway kept of the trip (written in a ruled pocket ledger courtesy of the Old Hartford Fire Insurance Company) that the excursion made an impression on him and helped him produce two of his finest Michigan stories: "The Light of the World" and "The Battler."

-- Taken from the article, "Gone Fishin'," by Jack Jobst
(Michigan History Magazine, November/December 1995)

Jack has always been a great admirer of Ernest Hemingway and his writings, and has spent his academic career studying his life as well as his literature. Hemingway's writings, Jack notes, are important to him, for several reasons. Firstly, the great body of work that Hemingway has produced reflects his persona as a rugged adventurer, an intriguing man who lived a life most people can only dream, a life of danger and excitement. Seemingly in contradiction of this identity, however, Hemingway was able to produce literature of great emotion and passion, and had the extraordinary power to express even death and tragedy in such a way as to be easily understood, but poetic as well. And, finally, Jack appreciates in Hemingway's literature the articulation of men's concerns, no matter what age: as he continued to write and mature, Hemingway also explored, through his novels and stories, his ever-maturing male psyche.

Jack first became interested in studying Hemingway's visits to Michigan while still a young man. After completing graduate school in Columbia, Missouri, he moved to Michigan. Already being a Hemingway fan, he set out to find Seney, Michigan, which Hemingway mentions in the story "Big Two-Hearted River." Once he found it, he interviewed the residents to learn more about Hemingway. Jack then went on to other Michigan locations noted in Hemingway's stories, such as the town of Kalkaska, immortalized in "The Light of the World." Thus began a lifelong investigation into Hemingway's travels through northern Michigan. Jack acknowledges that the reason he finds these studies so fascinating is that he feels closer to Hemingway through them, whether he visits a town where Hemingway bought groceries or walks a road which Hemingway is known to have walked. In this way, it is akin to a pilgrimage, in order to be closer to Hemingways' mind and thoughts.

This interest is no idle pasttime, however. Jack has published, in various magazines, no less than three articles on Hemingway's Michigan sojourns, and began an Ernest Hemingway e-mail discussion list, which, at this point, boasts over 200 members, including several of America's major Hemingway critics. After deciding the need existed for such a discussion forum, and having applied knowledge learned while starting similar lists for his own students, Jack contacted the Hemingway Society about the new list, and the word spread from there.

A Few Hemingway Links

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