Aaron Edward Hotchner (June 28, 1917 – February 15, 2020) was an American editor, novelist, playwright, and biographer."A.E. Hotchner"
''HarperCollins'' website. Accessed February 21, 2013. He wrote many television screenplays as well as noted biographies of

Doris Day Doris Day (born Doris Mary Kappelhoff; April 3, 1922 – May 13, 2019) was an American actress and singer. She began her career as a big band singer in 1937, achieving commercial success in 1945 with two No. 1 recordings, "Sentimental Journey ...

and

Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway ( ; July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer and journalist. Known for an economical, understated style that influenced later 20th-century writers, he has been romanticized fo ...

. He co-founded the charity food company

Newman's Own Newman's Own is an American food company headquartered in Westport, Connecticut. Founded in 1982 by actor Paul Newman and author A. E. Hotchner, the company donates all of its after-tax profits to charity through Newman's Own Foundation, a pri ...

with actor

Paul Newman Paul Leonard Newman (January 26, 1925 – September 26, 2008) was an American actor, film director, race car driver, philanthropist, and activist. He was the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Paul Newman, numerous awards ...

Early life

Hotchner was born in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

, the son of Sally (née Rossman), a synagogue/Sunday school administrator, and Samuel Hotchner, a jeweler. His family was Jewish. He attended Soldan High School. In 1940, he graduated from Washington University in St. Louis with degrees in history (A.B.) and law (J.D.).Caine, Susan Wooleyhan (Summer 2008
'A Multi-Storied Life'
''WUSTL Magazine''. Accessed February 22, 2013. He was admitted to the Missouri State Bar in 1941, and briefly practiced law in St. Louis in 1941 and 1942. After the United States entered

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

following the

Attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Empire of Japan on the United States Pacific Fleet at Naval Station Pearl Harbor, its naval base at Pearl Harbor on Oahu, Territory of ...

, he served from 1942 to 1945 in the U.S. Army Air Corps as a journalist, attaining the rank of major. When the war was over, he decided to forgo his law practice to pursue a career in writing.

Literary career

Hotchner was an editor, biographer, novelist and playwright. In 1948, he met

, and the two were close friends until Hemingway died in 1961. Hotchner wrote his biography of Hemingway, ''Papa Hemingway'', in 1966. He wrote teleplays in the 1950s and 1960s adapting Hemingway's '' The Snows of Kilimanjaro'', ''

The Killers The Killers are an American Rock music, rock band formed in Las Vegas, Nevada, in 2001 by Brandon Flowers (lead vocals, keyboards, bass) and Dave Keuning (lead guitar, backing vocals). After the band went through a number of short-term bas ...

'', '' The Fifth Column'', and '' After the Storm''. Hotchner's biography of Doris Day, ''Doris Day: Her Own Story'', was published in 1975. The film ''

King of the Hill ''King of the Hill'' is an American animated sitcom created by Mike Judge and Greg Daniels that initially aired on Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox from January 12, 1997, to September 13, 2009, with four more episodes airing in First-run syndicati ...

'' (1993), directed by

Steven Soderbergh Steven Andrew Soderbergh ( ; born January 14, 1963) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, cinematographer, and editor. A pioneer of modern Independent film, independent cinema, Soderbergh later drew acclaim for formally inventiv ...

, is a screen adaptation of Hotchner's 1973 autobiographical novel of the same name. A Depression-era,

bildungsroman In literary criticism, a bildungsroman () is a literary genre that focuses on the psychological and moral growth and change of the protagonist from childhood to adulthood (coming of age). The term comes from the German words ('formation' or 'edu ...

memoir, it tells the story of a boy struggling to survive on his own in a hotel in St. Louis, after his mother is committed to a

sanatorium A sanatorium (from Latin '' sānāre'' 'to heal'), also sanitarium or sanitorium, is a historic name for a specialised hospital for the treatment of specific diseases, related ailments, and convalescence. Sanatoriums are often in a health ...

with

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

and his younger brother is sent to live with an uncle. His father, a German immigrant and traveling salesman working for the

Hamilton Watch Company The Hamilton Watch Company is a Switzerland, Swiss manufacturer of wristwatches based in Biel/Bienne, Bienne, Switzerland. Founded in 1892 as an American firm, the Hamilton Watch Company ended American manufacture in 1969, shifting manufacturing ...

, is off on long trips from which the boy cannot be certain he will return. Hotchner's play ''The White House'' starred

Helen Hayes Helen Hayes MacArthur (; October 10, 1900 – March 17, 1993) was an American actress. Often referred to as the "First Lady of American Theatre", she was the second person and first woman to win EGOT, the EGOT (an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and ...

in a Broadway production staged at Henry Miller's Theater in 1964. Hayes played multiple First Ladies from United States history. It was performed at the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

itself in 1996. In 1993, ''Welcome to the Club'', a musical comedy written with composer

Cy Coleman Cy Coleman (born Seymour Kaufman; June 14, 1929 – November 18, 2004) was an American composer, songwriter, and jazz pianist. Life and career Coleman was born Seymour Kaufman in New York City, to Ashkenazi, Eastern European Jewish parents, an ...

, appeared on Broadway. In addition, Hotchner wrote ''A Short Happy Life'', ''The Hemingway Hero'', ''Exactly Like You'' (written with Coleman), and ''The World of Nick Adams''. Hotchner's play ''Sweet Prince'' was produced off-Broadway in 1982, at the Theater Off-Park, starring Keir Dullea and Ian Abercrombie.

Personal life and philanthropy

With actor

, a friend and neighbor, Hotchner founded

, Inc in 1982. All profits from this line of food products and other ventures are donated to charities. In 1988, Hotchner and Newman co-founded the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp, a residential summer camp and year-round center for seriously ill children located in

Ashford, Connecticut Ashford is a New England town, town in Windham County, Connecticut, United States. The town is part of the Northeastern Connecticut Planning Region, Connecticut, Northeastern Connecticut Planning Region. The population was 4,191 at the 2020 Unite ...

. The original camp was later expanded to become a number of other Hole in the Wall Camps at other locations in the U.S., Ireland, France, and beyond. By 2016, there were 30 camps and programs serving the needs of over 130,000 children and families around the world, as part of the SeriousFun Children's Network. Hotchner was honored with a star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame. Hotchner resided with his wife Virginia Kiser in

Westport, Connecticut Westport is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. Located in the Gold Coast (Connecticut), Gold Coast along the Long Island Sound, it is northeast of New York City and is part of the Western Connecticut Planning Region, Connec ...

, where he spent most weekends, and cared for a grey parrot. He was known for his collection of birds, and, outside his home in Westport, he had five peacocks. He loved to teach the kids on his road about the different birds and would sit and look at them often. He died on February 15, 2020, at the age of 102.

Partial bibliography

* ''The Boyhood Memoirs of A. E. Hotchner: King of the Hill and Looking for Miracles'' (Missouri History Museum Press, 2007, ) * ''The Dangerous American'' (Random House, 1958) * ''Papa Hemingway'' (Random House, 1966) * ''Treasure'' (Random House, 1970) * ''King of the Hill'' (Harper & Row, 1973, ) * ''Looking for Miracles: A Memoir about Loving'' (Harper & Row, 1975, ) * ''Doris Day, Her Own Story'' (G. K. Hall, 1976, ) * ''Sophia, Living and Loving : Her Own Story'' (Morrow, 1979, ) * '' The Man Who Lived at the Ritz'' (Putnam, 1981, ) * ''Papa Hemingway : The Ecstasy and Sorrow'' (Morrow, 1983, ) * ''Choice People : The Greats, Near-Greats, and Ingrates I Have Known'' (Morrow, 1984, ) * ''Hemingway and His World'' (Vendome, 1989, ) * ''Blown Away: The Rolling Stones and the Death of the Sixties'' (Simon & Schuster, 1990, ) * ''Louisiana Purchase'' (Carroll & Graf, 1996, ) * ''The Day I Fired Alan Ladd and Other World War II Adventures'' (U. of Missouri Press, 2002, ) * ''Shameless Exploitation in Pursuit of the Common Good: the Madcap Business Adventure of the Truly Oddest Couple'' Paul Newman and A.E. Hotchner, (Random House, 2003, ). * ''Everyone Comes to Elaine's'' (Harper Entertainment, 2004, ) * ''Paul and Me: 53 Years of Adventures and Misadventures with My Pal Paul Newman'' (Random House Digital, 2010, ) * ''O.J. in the Morning, G&T at Night'' (St. Martin's Press, 2013, ) * ''Hemingway in Love'' (St. Martin's Press, 2015, ) *''The Amazing Adventures of Aaron Broom: A Novel'', 2018,

Awards and honors

* Distinguished Alumni Award, Washington University School of Law, 1992. * Honorary D.L., Washington University in St. Louis, 1993.

Notes

References

External links

*
"2015 interview on Hemingway in Love: The Unwritable Rant"

biography

at Washington University Libraries
Bio at St. Louis Walk of Fame

Short Bio from Bookbrowse

movie review by Richard Harrington, ''Washington Post'', September 10, 1993

op-ed by A. E. Hotchner, ''New York Times'', July 1, 2011

Finding Aid for A. E. Hotchner Papers, Washington University Libraries Special Collections {{DEFAULTSORT:Hotchner, A. E. 1917 births 2020 deaths Lawyers from St. Louis Military personnel from St. Louis Writers from St. Louis 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American biographers American male biographers Washington University School of Law alumni 21st-century American novelists 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights 21st-century American biographers American male novelists American male dramatists and playwrights American men centenarians Novelists from Missouri James Beard Foundation Award winners American Jews United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II United States Army Air Forces officers 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers Washington University in St. Louis alumni Jews from Missouri Jewish centenarians