Hemingway-Pfeiffer Museum celebrates 10th anniversary with John Hemingway

July 14, 2009 -- The Hemingway-Pfeiffer Museum and Educational Center (HPMEC) will celebrate its ten-year anniversary with the unveiling of a new exhibit and three appearances by John Hemingway, eldest grandson of Ernest Hemingway and Pauline Pfeiffer Hemingway, scheduled Wednesday-Thursday, July 29-30. The Hemingway-Pfeiffer Museum and Educational Center is at 1021 W. Cherry Street, Piggott, Ark.

The featured event will be a public reception on Thursday, July 30, at 1:30-3 p.m., at the Hemingway Barn Studio, where the new exhibit, “The Piggott Connection,” will be unveiled. The reception will include remarks by John Hemingway and a book signing for his recently released family memoir, “Strange Tribe."

John Hemingway’s additional appearances include a public reading and book signing on Wednesday, July 29, at 3 p.m. at Arkansas State University-Jonesboro in the Dean B. Ellis Library’s third floor exhibit area, and a public reading and book signing on Thursday, July 30, at 5 p.m. at That Bookstore in Blytheville. “Strange Tribe” is available for purchase at all events.

“The Piggott Connection,” the new 16-foot panel exhibit, provides a timeline of Hemingway’s visits to the Pfeiffer home, featuring a monthly log for the years 1927-1940,  years during which the Hemingway family—Ernest, Pauline and/or the Hemingway children—were in residence at Piggott. Family photos and excerpts from Hemingway's letters tell the story of his connections with Piggott and the Pfeiffer family.

John Hemingway will comment on his Pfeiffer heritage after the unveiling, followed by his book signing. “Strange Tribe” is a fascinating family memoir revealing the peculiar family dynamics between Ernest Hemingway and his youngest son Gregory. Gregory, the author's father, tried to live up to Ernest's "macho" reputation throughout his life. But as a cross-dresser and (eventually) a transsexual, Gregory struggled with personal demons up until his death in the Women's Correctional Facility of the Miami Dade County Jail in 2001. In this wonderfully crafted narrative, featuring unpublished correspondence between Ernest and Gregory, “Strange Tribe” reveals how father and son were actually "two sides of the same coin,” sharing surprising similarities.

John Hemingway’s participation in the anniversary celebration is especially appropriate since his father, Gregory Hemingway, was the featured speaker at the grand opening celebration of HPMEC in July, 1999. Born in 1960, John Hemingway is the half-brother of Lorian Hemingway, who also has visited Piggott. John Hemingway has been married to his wife Ornella since 1984, and they have two children. After living in Italy and Spain, the family now resides in Montreal, Canada.

The Hemingway-Pfeiffer Museum and Educational Center is an Arkansas State University Heritage Site. Tours are given on the hour Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-3 p.m., and Saturday,1 p.m.-3 p.m. For more information, call HPMEC at (870) 598-3487, or contact Diana Sanders, assistant director (dsanders@centurytel.net).
 

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