Days Before His Suicide, Hemingway’s Hopeful Note to Sister Immaculata
The New York Times • • general
Key Points:
- In 1961, Ernest Hemingway, struggling with mental health issues, was treated at the Mayo Clinic by a team of Catholic nurses led by Sister Immaculata.
- Hemingway gifted Sister Immaculata a copy of his novella "The Old Man and the Sea" with a hopeful inscription, expressing optimism about his future writing.
- Despite his hopeful note, Hemingway died by suicide just sixteen days later on July 2, 1961.
- For over 60 years, the Sisters of Saint Francis of Rochester preserved this copy of the book, which contains some of Hemingway’s last written words.
- The sisters are now donating the book to the Nobel Prize Museum in Stockholm to honor Hemingway’s legacy among Nobel laureates
