Ernest Miller Hemingway was born on 21 July 1899. Regarded by many as the finest author of the twentieth century. His colourful life is reflected in his works of fiction. Novels such as ‘For Whom the Bell Tolls’, ‘A Farewell to rams’, and ‘The Old Man and the Sea’ draw heavily on personal experience and are more the richer for the infusion of first hand experience.

Hemmingway was a robust adventurer who enjoyed numerous holidays’ big game hunting in Africa. He also had a love for fishing and a romantic fascination with the brutal spectacle of Spanish bull fighting. What compassion Hemingway lacked for the beasts of the land and the fish of the sea he made up for with his empathy for human suffering. Due to a hereditary eye defect he was unable to enlist in the army to fight in the First World War. Undeterred he joined the Red Cross and sailed to Europe to help the injured on the battlefield. Hemmingway saw the brutalities of war at first hand and his experiences would provide inspiration for some of his greatest works.

A German mortar cut Hemmingway’s war short. Despite over 200 pieces of shrapnel being embedded in his legs and unperturbed by the heavy machine gun fire, Hemingway carried an injured Italian soldier to the first aid station. This story was the start of the Hemingway legend, a legend which Hemmingway himself did much to spur and propagate.

Hemingway had an eye for the ladies and married for times during his life. He also had a love for alcohol. One story tells of how after an airplane crash in Africa Hemingway was believed dead but later emerged with from the bush with a bottle of whiskey in his hand. Obviously he was using the booze to numb the pain of his head and abdomen injuries from which he never fully recovered.

Hemingway’s high point was winning the Noble Prize for literature in 1954. His low point was blowing his brains out on July 2nd 1961. So raise a glass to Papa Hemingway for he is truly a Top Drunk!