Ken Burns’ PBS documentary on Hemingway

ORCA Online Forum - Feel free to talk or ask about ALL kinds of old tackle here, with an emphasis on old reels!
Post Reply
User avatar
Mike N
Star Board Poster
Posts: 3763
Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 1:50 pm
Location: WV

Ken Burns’ PBS documentary on Hemingway

Post by Mike N »

...coming in April. Let’s hope for some insights into his tackle and fishing in the Gulf Stream.

Link
https://www.pbs.org/about/about-pbs/blo ... 21-on-pbs/
Mike N.
ORCA Founder, 1990
User avatar
kyreels
Super Board Poster
Posts: 1147
Joined: Mon Feb 06, 2006 6:12 pm
Location: Louisville, Kentucky

Re: Ken Burns’ PBS documentary on Hemingway

Post by kyreels »

I saw that in Nov on a story about Ken Burns and made a note about it. Good to see it is scheduled. Films as big as your head.
Matt Wickham
Collector of Casting Weights, KY Reels and KY Tackle
Kevin McJunkin
Advanced Board Poster
Posts: 128
Joined: Fri Sep 16, 2005 5:15 pm

Re: Ken Burns’ PBS documentary on Hemingway

Post by Kevin McJunkin »

Really looking forward to it. Thanks for the heads up.
User avatar
reeltackle
Super Board Poster
Posts: 900
Joined: Tue Nov 25, 2003 10:11 am
Location: Florida
Contact:

Re: Ken Burns’ PBS documentary on Hemingway

Post by reeltackle »

From what I've heard, the documentary concentrates heavily on his literary life. That being said, it is a story of his life and fishing played a prominent role throughout his life. After moving to Key West and buying the Pilar he spent a great deal of time on the water. At first he was a serious student of the sport but he quickly became an expert angler and was also very much interested in the fish and their habits. While living in Cuba he invited scientists aboard the Pilar to fish with him and studied marlin migration patterns. Hemingway also worked with ichthyologists trying to determine the different species of marlin as the science was still uncertain at the time. Hemingway had a very aggressive fishing style and he never allowed the fish on the end of the line to rest. It was this style of fishing that enabled him to land a giant bluefin tuna intact in the waters off Bimini.



The IGFA Museum put on a Hemingway exhibition back in 1999 and because of museum reciprocity I was able to go through the archives at the JFK Library in Boston and read his log books and go through their photo archives to obtain photos for the exhibit. I also got to see many other personal artifacts that belonged to Hemingway that were stashed away and not on exhibit. Because of the international Games Fish Association's "international" status the Cuban government allowed reps from the IGFA to go through his home, the Finca Vigia, and select items for the show. I did not make the trip to San Francisco de Paula but I did get to work with the items that were selected putting together the exhibit. Unfortunately there was no fishing gear as most of it was stolen off a train carrying his tackle to his new home in Idaho after he departed Cuba.

Having done plenty of research on the tackle that he used, which is well documented in photos and his writing, we know that Hemingway did his first real big game fishing with a 14/0 Edward vom Hofe big game reel and vom Hofe rod. He quickly added a pair of Hardy "Zane Grey" big game reels to his arsenal. One of the Hardy reels was the 7 incher and the other was a 5 1/2 inch reel. He fished both reels with Hardy Palakona rods, it is known that he had both a "#5 Palakona" rod and a "Zane Grey Extra Heavy Palakona Rod".


Hemingway aboard his boat the "Pilar" with his adoring son, a 14/0 Edward vom Hofe reel on a big vom Hofe rod, a rum drink, a big floppy hat to keep the sun at bay, and his beloved Thompson sub machine gun for dealing with sharks. Does life get any better than this?

Hemingway in Bimini with a Hardy "Zane Grey" reel and rod.

Aboard the "Pilar" fishing with a Hardy Bros. "Zane Grey" reel and Palakona big game rod.

For smaller fish Hemingway used smaller Edward vom Hofe 621 reels and some Pflueger Templar reels as well. In an article for Esquire Magazine Hemingway talks about having 12/0 Fin-Nor reels on Tycoon rods aboard the Pilar for his guests. Hemingway stated that he did not use these reels himself because he thought they gave the angler too much advantage, an advantage that he did not need but lesser anglers might. The fact that not many guests were allowed to fish aboard the Pilar is perhaps the reason this Tycoon Bimini King rod is in such good condition.



Back in the early 1980s I took a few flights over to Bimini in search of the Hemingway experience and his tackle. On one trip I met with a native Bahamian who went by the name Bonito Bob, who, in his younger days, was Hemingway's chair boy. He told me some stories of fishing aboard the Pilar and sold me a marlin burgee that he said he had salvaged from the boat after a Hurricane in Cuba had given her a rough time. I did not put much stock in his story until I saw a photo at the JFK Library that showed what seems like the same hand sewn marlin flag flying from the Pilar.





Can't wait to see the documentary, no one does them better than Ken Burns!
Ed Pritchard
http://www.AntiqueFishingReels.com
ORCA Charter Member "First Paid Member"
Honorary Life Member

"Reels As Big As Your Head" Always looking for BIG game reels and anything else that might go along.
User avatar
Mike N
Star Board Poster
Posts: 3763
Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 1:50 pm
Location: WV

Re: Ken Burns’ PBS documentary on Hemingway

Post by Mike N »

Ed, that’s an incredibly interesting essay about your Hemingway research and experiences. Thanks for sharing all the photo’s, too.


Mike N
Mike N.
ORCA Founder, 1990
User avatar
Tightlines666
Advanced Board Poster
Posts: 280
Joined: Sun May 31, 2015 4:16 am

Re: Ken Burns’ PBS documentary on Hemingway

Post by Tightlines666 »

A related livestream will commence on January 26, 2020...

https://www.comlib.org/event/papas-places/
Richard Lodge
Super Board Poster
Posts: 1199
Joined: Tue Sep 16, 2003 10:00 pm
Location: Massachusetts

Re: Ken Burns’ PBS documentary on Hemingway

Post by Richard Lodge »

Wow, great essay and amazing photos, Ed. Thank you for sharing those. That photo with the fish and the stern of Pilar is a classic. With the crew and the woman with fish, it's pretty much the epitome of Papa Hemingway and his fishing joy.
Nick in NY
Advanced Board Poster
Posts: 351
Joined: Wed Dec 05, 2007 6:59 pm

Re: Ken Burns’ PBS documentary on Hemingway

Post by Nick in NY »

Mmm I’d say the Hofe is a 16-0...never seen a narrow 14-0 but then again I’m not an authority... it’s a 16 no doubt!
Wanted Ultra rare salt water reels including big game as well as unknown rare surf reels!
User avatar
Ron Mc
Star Board Poster
Posts: 3384
Joined: Thu Apr 29, 2004 7:49 am
Location: downtown Bulverde, Texas
Contact:

Re: Ken Burns’ PBS documentary on Hemingway

Post by Ron Mc »

Great photos Ed, thanks for sharing.
There are so many extreme things about Hemingway's life the documentary will have to cover - extreme is how he lived his life - volunteering early in the Italian army, expatriate in Paris, bull fighting aficionado (a word he added to Webster's), Civil War, then we get to Cuba and the Pilar and Key West (finally Ketchum, Idaho).
Islands in the Stream was finished by Mary Hemingway, and published a dozen years after his death.
Mike, thanks for the heads up, an important event for a Hemingway aficionado.
User avatar
kyreels
Super Board Poster
Posts: 1147
Joined: Mon Feb 06, 2006 6:12 pm
Location: Louisville, Kentucky

Re: Ken Burns’ PBS documentary on Hemingway

Post by kyreels »

I just set my DVR to record the PBS Hemingway Series, a three-part 6 hour documentary by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick starting Monday 4/5. The showtime may vary in your local area and PBS station but it is scheduled for 8 pm eastern time. If you can't watch it live and don't have a DVR, you can stream it on your streaming device from the links available at the below site.

Excited to watch this historic biography of a great writer.

https://www.pbs.org/kenburns/hemingway/
Matt Wickham
Collector of Casting Weights, KY Reels and KY Tackle
User avatar
Mike N
Star Board Poster
Posts: 3763
Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 1:50 pm
Location: WV

Re: Ken Burns’ PBS documentary on Hemingway

Post by Mike N »

Well, the first episode was pure genius. Ken Burns is an American treasure.
Mike N.
ORCA Founder, 1990
User avatar
reeltackle
Super Board Poster
Posts: 900
Joined: Tue Nov 25, 2003 10:11 am
Location: Florida
Contact:

Re: Ken Burns’ PBS documentary on Hemingway

Post by reeltackle »

Agreed Mike, Burns is an insightful and thoughtful documentarian and story teller. Tomorrow there’ll be fishing and writing about fishing.
Ed Pritchard
http://www.AntiqueFishingReels.com
ORCA Charter Member "First Paid Member"
Honorary Life Member

"Reels As Big As Your Head" Always looking for BIG game reels and anything else that might go along.
User avatar
Mike N
Star Board Poster
Posts: 3763
Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 1:50 pm
Location: WV

Re: Ken Burns’ PBS documentary on Hemingway

Post by Mike N »

Now, in addition to Dr. Henshall’s Kentucky reel collection, I am left to wonder what became of the original manuscripts from Hemingway’s first go as writer that his first wife tried to bring to him in Europe as a “surprise,” but which were stolen along with the steamer trunk.
Mike N.
ORCA Founder, 1990
User avatar
kyreels
Super Board Poster
Posts: 1147
Joined: Mon Feb 06, 2006 6:12 pm
Location: Louisville, Kentucky

Re: Ken Burns’ PBS documentary on Hemingway

Post by kyreels »

what became of the original manuscripts from Hemingway’s first go as writer
Episode 1 seemed to make it unclear if any writings survived or were later found. According to lostmanuscripts.com,
Only two short stories survived the disaster. “Up in Michigan”, which he had buried in a drawer because Gertrude Stein had said it was unpublishable, while “My Old Man” was out with an editor at a magazine.

In a letter to Ezra Pound, in January 1923, Hemingway wrote: “I suppose you heard about the loss of my Juvenalia? I went up to Paris last week to see what was left and found that Hadley had made the job complete by including all carbons, duplicates, etc. All that remains of my complete works are three pencil drafts of a bum poem which was later scrapped, some correspondence between John McClure and me, and some journalistic carbons. You, naturally, would say, ‘Good’ etc. But don’t say it to me. I ain’t yet reached that mood.”
There was a fake recovery of the Hemmingway lost manuscripts documented here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hemingway_Hoax

Looking forward to the next episodes.
Matt Wickham
Collector of Casting Weights, KY Reels and KY Tackle
User avatar
reeltackle
Super Board Poster
Posts: 900
Joined: Tue Nov 25, 2003 10:11 am
Location: Florida
Contact:

Re: Ken Burns’ PBS documentary on Hemingway

Post by reeltackle »

It would seem that Hemingway had bad luck with transporting his personal possessions by train. Not only were his manuscripts lost on a train but his fishing tackle met the same fate. After leaving Cuba, Hemingway put all of his tackle in steamer trunks to be sent by train to his new home in Ketchum Idaho. Somewhere along the route from Miami to Ketchum his tackle disappeared. The story is that the trunks had been stolen.

Like his manuscripts, not all of his reels were unaccounted for. He gave at least one of his Hardy Zane Grey reels away to his 1st mate Carlos Gurierrez before he departed Cuba. Other reels with his name on them have showed up over the years however there provenance is sketchy at best. I had one fellow contact me with a fairly contemporary 16/0 Penn Senator with the name Ernest Hemmingway engraved on the side-plate. I guess the guy at the engraving kiosk at the mall got over zealous with his "m's".

Tonight ought to have some good fishing content, however, I expect it will mostly concentrate on how his fishing experiences pertained to his writing and how his writing style brought those adventures to life. Unfortunately for us collector types I doubt that they will go in to detail about Hemingway's tackle but I hope they talk about how seriously he delved into the sport. I'm sure if they read some of his stories his knowledge of the sport will become evident. Hemingway went from student to expert in a very short period of time. Most big game anglers of the day relied on their captain and his crew's knowledge to rig the baits, find the fish, handle the boat and do most everything other than fighting the fish. Hemingway wanted to, and did, learn it all and in a relatively short amount of time. As vice-president of the IGFA he took scientists aboard the "Pilar" to conduct research on determining the different species of marlin, a mystery that had yet to be solved at the time. He even had his own theories on the different species of marlin and their migration patterns.

Back in 2009 I was fortunate enough to spend a day talking Hemingway and tackle with the very talented writer Paul Hendrickson, one of the commentators featured in the Hemingway documentary. Hendrickson wrote the biography Hemingway's Boat which was published in 2011 and deals with Hemingway's life from 1934 to 1961, his relationship with his boat Pilar, and its influence on his life. Hendrickson's book is one of the best biography's I have read about Hemingway and in it he exposes a lot of EH's eccentricities and shows us some of his very dark places. Although the book is not strictly about Hemingway's fishing experiences aboard the Pilar, Hendrickson did quite a bit of research on Hemingway's relationship with her and the fishing he did aboard her. I hope we will see a bit more of Hendrickson in the upcoming episode talking about how fishing influenced Hemingway's life and his writing.
Ed Pritchard
http://www.AntiqueFishingReels.com
ORCA Charter Member "First Paid Member"
Honorary Life Member

"Reels As Big As Your Head" Always looking for BIG game reels and anything else that might go along.
Post Reply