Leicester Clarence Hemingway (April 1, 1915 – September 13, 1982) was an American writer. He was the younger brother of writer

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 ...

and wrote six books, including a first novel entitled ''The Sound of the Trumpet'' (1953), based on Leicester's experiences in France and Germany during

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 ...

. In 1961, Leicester published ''My Brother, Ernest Hemingway'', a biography. The work was well-received and brought Leicester both recognition as a writer in his own right and significant financial rewards. With the capital from the work, Hemingway created the

micronation A micronation is a polity, political entity whose representatives claim that they belong to an independent nation or sovereign state, but which lacks legal recognition by any sovereign state. Micronations are classified separately from list o ...

New Atlantis ''New Atlantis'' is a utopian novel by Sir Francis Bacon, published posthumously in 1626. It appeared unheralded and tucked into the back of a longer work of natural history, ''Sylva Sylvarum'' (forest of materials). In ''New Atlantis'', Bac ...

on a raft off the coast of Jamaica, intended to serve as a marine research headquarters. The project was cut short when New Atlantis was destroyed in a 1966

tropical storm A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its lo ...

Early life and family

Hemingway was born in Oak Park,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

to Clarence Edmonds Hemingway, a physician, and Grace Hall Hemingway, a musician. He was the youngest of six siblings, the others being Marcelline (1898–1963),

Ernest Ernest is a given name derived from the Germanic languages, Germanic word ''ernst'', meaning "serious", often shortened to Ernie. Notable people and fictional characters with the name include: People *Archduke Ernest of Austria (1553–1595), ...

(1899–1961), Ursula (1902–1966), Madelaine (1904–1995), and Carol (1911–2002).

Personal life

Hemingway married twice. With his first wife, Patricia "Patti" Shedd, he had two sons, Jacob Edmonds and Peter. With his second wife, Doris Mae Dunning, he had two daughters, Anne and author Hilary Hemingway.

Suicide

In 1982, Hemingway killed himself with a gunshot to the headMichael Largo - ''Genius and Heroin''
/ref> after having suffered several years from

Type 2 diabetes Type 2 diabetes (T2D), formerly known as adult-onset diabetes, is a form of diabetes mellitus that is characterized by high blood sugar, insulin resistance, and relative lack of insulin. Common symptoms include increased thirst, frequent ...

, which required several operations.

New Atlantis

Hemingway founded his micronation of New Atlantis on an 8 foot by 30 foot (2.5 m x 9 m)

raft A raft is any flat structure for support or transportation over water. It is usually of basic design, characterized by the absence of a hull. Rafts are usually kept afloat by using any combination of buoyant materials such as wood, sealed barre ...

he had towed 12 nautical miles (22 km) out from Jamaica, in July 1964. He utilized the 1856 Guano Islands Act to claim half of the raft as a new nation and half for the United States. Hemingway also "wrote" a constitution, which was a copy of the U.S. Constitution with the words "New Atlantis" substituted for "United States". New Atlantis' purpose was to generate money for oceanographic research by selling coins and stamps. In 1966, the micronation was ravaged by a storm and then ransacked by fishermen.

References

Sources

Leicester Hemingway, 1915-1982; New Atlantis Collection, 1964-66
Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas at Austin * Samuel Pyeatt Menefee, "Republics of the Reefs: Nation-Building on the Continental Shelf and in the World's Oceans", ''California Western Journal of International Law'', vol. 25, no. 1, Fall, 1994, pp. 104–05. * Family records {{DEFAULTSORT:Hemingway, Leicester 1915 births 1982 deaths 1982 suicides 20th-century American biographers 20th-century American male writers Micronational leaders Writers from Oak Park, Illinois Hemingway family Suicides by firearm in Florida