Hotch at 100: Meeting Hemingway

Over the course of his long life and career, author, playwright, philanthropist, and Washington University alum A. E. Hotchner has had the good fortune to cross paths with many of the notable figures of the twentieth century. In 1948, fresh out of the Air Force, Hotchner was sent on assignment to solicit an article from Ernest Hemingway. In this installment of our ongoing interview series “Hotch at 100”, Hotch tells us about this encounter, which lead to a close friendship lasting the final 13 years of Hemingway’s life. Hotchner would chronicle this friendship in his first memoir Papa Hemingway, which would catapult him to a literary fame of his own.

The Modern Literature Collection has been acquiring Hotchner’s manuscripts and other papers since 1967. The A. E. Hotchner Papers currently consist of manuscript and editorial material toward the books Papa Hemingway (1966), Treasure (1970), King of the Hill (1970), The Man Who Lived at the Ritz (1981), Looking for Miracles (1975), Choice People (1984), Louisiana Purchase (1996) and Hemingway in Love (2015), as well as scripts for Hotchner’s adaptations of Hemingway materials for television and original plays for television and the stage.

A major new acquisition from Hotchner this year includes further manuscripts and screenplays, correspondence with Hemingway, photographs and other memorabilia of Hotchner’s time at Washington University, photographs of Hemingway, and many materials related to Hotchner’s long-running charity production of the Hemingway story-cycle “The World of Nick Adams”. These materials are being processed and integrated with the existing A. E. Hotchner Papers.

SAVE THE DATE: On Thursday, June 28, in the John M. Olin Library, we will be celebrating Hotchner’s 101st birthday, the publication of his upcoming novel, The Amazing Adventures of Aaron Broom, and the resources in the expanded A. E. Hotchner Papers. More details to come soon!