Weekend at Hemingway's

While a resident of Cuba from 1958 to 1959 -- experiencing three months under the dictatorship of Presidente Fulgencio Batista and almost a year under Comendador Fidel Castro -- I met and became friends with Hemingway. It is from my initial long weekend visit, subsequent friendship, and my recent return visit to Cuba that I have carefully crafted an informatively engrossing and quietly authoritative portrait of my friend -- affectionately and respectfully called Papa. This portrait reflects a sensitive and sympathetic image of a complex personality and a distinguished artist. Still, ever present is Hemingway himself and the hitherto puzzling components of his existence. His drive to endanger his life again and again, his epic battles with critics and his unapologetic assailing of the U.S. Department of Justice and it's Immigration Naturalization Service for their inbred policies of prejudice and bigotry exacerbated by politicians, he maintained, were handicapped by natural immaturity.