Hemingway connection to Pigeon River Country forest focus of May 15 program

GAYLORD — Famous author Ernest Hemingway was born in 1899 and grew up in the Chicago suburb of Oak Park. Before he embarked on a newspaper and writing career, Hemingway spent parts of his first 22 summers with his family in Northern Michigan, on Walloon Lake near Petoskey.

Hemingway’s time in Northern Michigan will be the subject of a presentation at 6 p.m. on May 15 at the Pigeon River Country (PRC) Discovery Center, 9984 Twin Lakes Road.

Christopher Struble of Petoskey, president of the Michigan Hemingway Society, will present “Hemingway’s Last Good Country: the PRC." He will look at the influence Northern Michigan had on Hemingway’s personal life and literature through commentary and rare family photos. To register, visit pigeonriverdiscoverycenter.org/event/hemingways-last-good-country-the-pigeon-river-forest .

Subscribe Check out our latest offers and read the local news that matters to you

Eager to continue healing his physical and emotional wounds from World War I, Hemingway gathered friends to join him in several camping and fishing trips in the PRC area, which he called “the Pine Barrens.” He and his friends also roamed and fished the Pigeon and Sturgeon rivers.

When Hemingway left Michigan in 1921, he carried the PRC in his memory and it impacted his writing, especially the collection of the Nick Adams stories. These sketches illustrate the fine line between fiction and many of the real-life events that Hemingway experienced during his summers spent on Walloon Lake and surrounding areas, including the PRC.

— Contact Paul Welitzkin at pwelitzkin@gaylordheraldtimes.com .

This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Hemingway connection to Pigeon River Country forest focus of May 15 program