advertisement

Papa Hemingway's haunt

HAVANA - Tonight on Nightly News we'll take a look at the politically-complicated efforts to restore the Cuban home of famed American writer Ernest Hemingway. Reporting this story gave us rare access to the fascinating place known as Finca Vigia, or Lookout Farm, which sits on a hill overlooking Havana. Hemingway lived and worked there for 21 years, from 1939 to 1960, and it's where he finished "For Whom the Bell Tolls," and fully wrote "The Old Man and the Sea," for which he won both a Pulitzer and a Nobel Prize for Literature.

All of us in the NBC team were struck by how the house seems frozen in time, and feels as if Papa, himself, could stroll through the door at any moment. The walls are filled with his hunting trophies from around the world, including the head of an African Cape Buffalo. On the bathroom walls are the handwritten notes he would write every day recording his weight. The last entry was from July 24, 1960. He weighed 190 pounds then.

In back of the villa is the swimming pool where Ava Gardner reportedly swam naked. And there is also Hemingway's storied fishing boat, the Pilar, upon which he shared many adventures with his old Cuban pal Gregorio Fuentes, who died four years ago at the age of 104. The Pilar is also being restored, and some American preservation experts are offering technical advice, as they are for the house. But, because of the U.S. trade embargo, they can't provide any money or needed materials. That's the politically-complicated part.

In the living room we found Hemingway's Zenith radio and his phonograph still working, and we actually listened to some of his records. Hemingway must have really liked Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue," because that record is just worn out. In the simple front bedroom, which Hemingway used as his office, we saw his handwritten epilogue to "For Whom the Bell Tolls." He thought of changing the ending, but reconsidered, and never actually published it.

Finally we saw the exact spot where Hemingway would stand in front of a bookshelf in the morning hours to write his world-famous novels. The Cuban curators were good enough to also let us see the actual Royal typewriter he used there. It struck me that sitting by itself, it's a mere machine. In his hands, though, it was the door to literary achievement and worldwide fame. Playing awestruck silly tourist for a moment, I had my picture taken next to the typewriter, hoping a little magic might rub off.

Read more from Mark Potter

SUNDAY'S BROADCAST

EMAIL THIS