WALLACE STEVENS
First off I want to say that I am sorry but I am again berating you on what you don’t know and I find that so much in one of my favorite places—Key West—-for years when I suggest it to persons they shake their head and say—no I’m not into bar hopping and all that I want a better vacation or visit or whatever—-and so in the next few weeks I am going to introduce you to the Key West that I have learn of and learned to love.
We will start with Wallace Stevens—a Hartford Insurance Executive—and now you’re really shaking your head and saying; “In Key West—now you’re really stretching the facts—but no honest I’m not. In fact it was Stevens who called Key West, and “The Sweetest doing, nothing contrived.”
On a visit to Key West Stevens wrote the following to his wife: “The ground id white coral broken up as white as this paper, dazzling in the sunshine.”
He spent more and more time here and after 1934 wintered here regularly at the Large Casa Marina Hotel which was built by Flagler—a man we’ve mentioned on this blog a few times before and as you can see by the video, if you click on Casa Marina Hotel in this paragraph, is still open for business—stayed there once years ago.
Ernest Hemingway at his desk in Key West
Key West Resident Profiles: Ernest Hemingway
Then there was Papa a man who really fit into Key West—if he ever really fit anywhere—and he was the the first major writer to start the trend for artists of all kinds to come to Key West.
Yes of all the writers who lived here I think Hemingway is the one most likely to come to mind followed for me at least by Williams -But Hemingway drank at —he even wrote a novel based on on Joe Russel of Sloppy Joe’s fame —his only novel set in the USA (well kinda it’s about a Key West Fishing Captain—Russel) There’s a movie with Bogie and Bacall—-just watched it the other day. Oh Sloppy’s
Yes there were many writers including Elizabeth Bishop (there’s a plaque on her home—While Hemingway’s House is a fully open museum and book store) which last I heard had been acquired and being restored, though I really don’t think she’ll replace Hemingway on this crazy isle. Tennesse Williams home is also here (A 3-min walk from the Ernest Hemingway House) and where he lived from 1946 until his death in 1983—it sets next door to a tiny house that was used to film a version of his Rose Tattoo (1955 with Burt Lancaster.) Key west got a mention by Hart Crane Key West Sheaf—for his poetry collection—but the name was used loosely as Crane never got closer than Cuba which is only 90 miles as the dolphin swims.
Why did they come here—-I guess for the same reason that the rest of us do…..”But I liked living there. The light and the blaze of colors made a good impression on me.” Elizabeth Bishop
The Old Man and the Keys – 6 Ways to Experience Key West Hemingway Style
Elizabeth Bishop standing with her bicycle in front of a coconut palm in Key West, ca. 1937. (Elizabeth Bishop Papers, Vassar College.)
Florida Keys Virtual Vacation: KEY WEST!
Elizabeth Bishop Birthday Celebration to Open Poet’s Key West Home
(2020)
Elizabeth Bishop House
624 White Street
Bishop lived in Key West 1938 to 1946.
Her house is officially listed on the Literary Landmarks Register (since 1993).
Plaque on front gate:
“Should we have stayed at home/wherever that may Be?”
It is said that the poet was drawn to the islands for it’s water and it’s fishing. She must have been impressed as she moved to the Island the year after that first visit.
It is said that she, like several of the other artists who moved to Key West did some of their best work here- In her case this included many of her Pulitzer prize winning poems (See Her Poems: North and South publication.)
There has been some speculation that the town’s attitude toward letting persons do their own thing was also a draw to the poet who was able to maintain her Lesbian Relationships as well as her solitary and what others often called eccentric life style.
After leaving Key West She won the Pulitzer prize mentioned before as well as one for “A Cold Spring”. Her “Complete Poems” won a National book award in 1970 and passed away 9 years later in 1979.
At Home With Elizabeth Bishop
10 THINGS TO DO IN KEY WEST THAT DON’T INCLUDE WATER
Philip Burton, 90; Taught and Adopted Richard Burton
Phillip Burton’s Home
Private Home
He was a teacher and a Shakespearean scholar as well as a writer who published such works as ARE YOU MY BROTHER, EARLY DOORS, and his signature work: THE SOLE VOICE: CHARACTER PORTRAITS FROM SHAKESPEARE.
In Wales where he was teaching he adopted a student who was from a poor Welsh family and re-named him Richard Burton. He encouraged his education and It is felt that he was a great influence on Richard’s career direction and his great success in films and on the stage.
Later in his life Phillip Burton came to Key West to “Convalesce” and shortly after he determined to stay and purchased a home where he lived until he fell severely ill and he was taken to the mainland and a nursing home in which his final day before he passed away.
During his stay in Key West, his son Richard and his wife–you may have heard about her Elizabeth Taylor, visited Phillip were quest at the house and it is said that after the divorce(s) Liz (the wife) remained friends with Phillip—Though it is noted that he was not in favor of the mess that resulted from Richard’s divorce and Liz breaking up another marriage, he seems to have eventually warmed to her and stayed on good terms with her the rest of his life.
Obituary: Philip Burton
“A Rumor Of War” 1980 Vietnam War Military Drama – Brad Davis as Lt. Philip Caputo
Vacation Rental called Star of the Sea Now—You can rent the whole place for you and your friends.
A novelist from a Chicago suburb that caught a marlin off Cuba and lived in Key West for awhile. His A Rumor of War, one of the first books about Vietnam s War won him great acclaim.”
Welcome to author Philip Caputo’s official website
Meadows Key West Homes For Sale: 1401 Petronia Street,
1401 Petronia
A private residence
Passos just jumped a train— on Flagler’s East Coast Railroad and rode it to the End of the Line—which was Key West. Even Hemingway wasn’t here yet—as it was Passos who convinced him to try the Southern Most part of the East Coast. It’s been said that Passos (and probably Hemingway) loved Key West for it’s abundance of liquor and fish. He came her for the winters, met Kathy, who became his wife and in 1934 on rented this house in the season. It’s said he worked —some times on his masterpiece Landmark Trilogy USA here as well
Key West: Bohemia In The Tropics
With Hemingway
KeysTV.com Florida Keys and Key West – Heritage House Museum
Robert Frost
Key West Heritage House Museum
and Robert Frost Cottage
The Key West Heritage House, purchased by Jessie Porter in 1934 and opened as a museum in 1995, closed on April 17, 2010. Wikipedia.
| 410 Caroline Street
Is no longer a museum or even a residence—-but in 2020 held a Real Estate office—SAD |
I presume it is now a private residence as the museum has closed.
The granddaughter of one of the early settlers’s of Key West Dr. Joseph Porter: Jessie Porter Newton was devoted to preserving the history of the town. One of the housees she owned and restored was the Heritage House which had a cottage behind it where she entertained Literary figures included the previously mentioned Dos Passos, Archibald Macleish and Thorton Wilder (he wrote Matchmaker while staying here) . I think you all might agree that her most popular and one who visited the most was Robert Frost. His first visit was in the winter of 1934 and he returned regularly from then on–always in the winter . He won four poetry Pulitzer prizes and interestingly wrote Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening while staying warm in a city/island that has never has even a frost.
Jessie “Miss Jessie” Porter Newton
Take a Virtual Vacation to the Florida Keys
Next week we’ll continue to give you info and show houses on the Literary Artists of Key West. Please come back
Later this week I’ll have another episode of Bits & Pieces where I gave you multiple options for thing to do—places to go and more virtual to allow you to spend your time and whet your appetite while we anticipate a freedom that we hope comes sooner than later. So you can’t miss that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
