Page 11 - Demo

6. ERNEST HEMINGWAY WAR JOURNALIST, WRITER
Few know of Hemingway bravery in Italy during the First World War AND that he did much of his best writing during his later visits.
When Hemingway was only 18 years old, he tried to enlist in the army. He was rejected because of his poor eyesight, and drove ambulances and delivered supplies for the Red Cross instead. He was trained in Milan, and then started work in Schio (Northern Italy) near the front lines of the Piave River. Milan, Schio, Venice and Cortina, all of them were visited by him.
In July of 1918, Hemingway was hit by an Austrian mortar shell. Over 200 pieces of mortar were lodged in his legs, but he managed to help other men out of harm’s way. He won the Silver Medal of Military Valour for his bravery. Then, Hemingway returned to Milan to recover from his injuries. A Farewell to Arms was written during this time.
‘Sono un vecchio fanatico del Veneto ed e qui che lascero il mio cuore. (I’m an old fan of the Veneto region and it’s here that I’ll let my heart.)’ – he said.
Hemingway returned to Italy in 1923, stayed in Cortina d’Ampezzo, there writing Out of Season. In 1948, he visited Venice for the first time. During his stay he hunted duck and wrote Across the River and Into the Trees, while on the island of Torcello.
In 1954 Hemingway came back again to Venice to recover from a plane accident and ‘to be healed by its scampi and its Valpolicella,’ he said (Valpolicella is an area in Verona famous for wine).
During his stays in Venice, he became an habitué of the Harry’s Bar, the now-famous historical landmark that opened in 1931. According to the Giuseppe Cipriani, founder of Harry’s, Hemingway frequented it in 1949-50 always choosing the same table ‘his spot’ (he mentions his corner at the Harry’s Bar in Across the River and Into the Trees) and being the first to order a ‘Montgomery’ from Harry’s Bar (a very dry martini made with 15 parts gin and 1-part vermouth.)
Hemingway with Cipriani