Five From the Finca
Spring 2025 Five from the finca
Interview with Scott Rossi for the Florida Hemingway Society Spring 2025
This Spring Massiel sat down with Scott Rossi for an interview. Of course! Here's the updated version with that adjustment:
Scott Rossi is a renowned Hemingway scholar whose research and writing have significantly deepened the literary world’s understanding of Ernest Hemingway’s life, style, and legacy. Rossi is known for his insightful analysis of Hemingway's minimalist prose, complex characters, and themes of masculinity, war, and existential struggle. He has authored numerous influential articles and essays that explore the nuanced dimensions of Hemingway’s work. As a frequent lecturer and conference speaker, Rossi continues to inspire both students and scholars with his passion for Hemingway’s writing and his dedication to advancing literary scholarship.
Let me know if you'd like to include his institutional affiliation or any specific accomplishments.
1. What first drew you to Hemingway and his work?
My education on Hemingway’s life and works began in my senior year high school English class, taught at Father Judge Catholic High School in Fall of 1993 - June 1994 by Lou McKee. Lou was a great Hemingway fan, and a poet. He had our class read our first Hemingway novels A Farewell to Arms and The Old Man and the Sea. I was drawn in by Hemingway’s memorable writing first, and his adventurous life second. This led me on a self-education on Hemingway upon graduation, which bore fruit with research I did in Fall of 2002. I also went on to discover Ernest Hemingway’s long-lost home movies dating back to April 7, 1935. The footage appeared in Ken Burn 2021 PBS documentary, “Hemingway: the man, the myth, the writer.” I wrote and completed a final draft of a new book on Hemingway which I’ve been told by Hemingway scholars sheds important new light on Ernest Hemingway’s mental health, and its correlation to his literary genius.
2. How did you become interested in studying Hemingway's mental health and its connection to his literary genius?
My research into the life and works of Hemingway coincided with a parallel transformational experience of my own with depression. It began when I was about 16 ½ years of age, until the age of 25, at which point I discovered what had caused it. In that span of time, I had lived with undiagnosed mercury toxicity. One day I learned there may be a cause of some depression in our country from mercury dental amalgam fillings, which consist of 50% mercury, and have been in use since before the American Civil War era. I had 16 dental amalgams by the age of 25, and a year after coming out of that experience, diagnosed, treated from Chelation Therapy, the primary form of detoxification from heavy metals, and cured, I went on to make three discoveries in the life of Ernest Hemingway. That he had two major separate exposures to toxic lead by April 7, 1935, and I unearthed his long-lost home movies, which aired in Ken Burns 2021 PBS documentary, “HEMINGWAY”.
I discovered Hemingway and at least his two eldest sisters, and their father Clarence “Ed” Hemingway had periodic exposures to toxic lead vapor every year. It’s all according to memoirs by two of Hemingway’s sisters, who go into detail, that their father had a supplemental hobby to outdoor hunting, bullet casting. He cast his own lead bullets, using his own father’s Civil War bullet mold, every winter, melting lead which was poured into the mold over the basement laundry room stove of Ernest’s childhood home in Oak Park, Illinois, often with his kids by his side. One of the sisters quotes the father saying, “Oxygen is let off in the process.” When I took the full paragraph long excerpt to experts on lead poisoning, including an EPA scientist in Washington, D.C., and a former head of the State of Illinois Lead Prevention Program, they say it was lead vapor, not oxygen, and that its toxic. They also say based on my evidence, the potential now exists that Ernest Hemingway, his two eldest sisters, and their father may have had lead poisoning.
Two famous cultural icons have been definitively diagnosed with lead poisoning. President Andrew Jackson, in an August 1999 study in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), and famous music composer Ludwig van Beethoven in a May 6, 2024 study ironically conducted at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. The scientific process, which proved they had lead poisoning, is hair analysis where locks of their hair are analyzed to reveal their contents. Both had elevated levels of lead. Jackson’s exposure came from two lead bullets retained in his body for years, from a duel and a battle. Hemingway also had a large retained lead bullet from a documented April 7, 1935 shooting accident, while fishing in the Gulfstream aboard his boat The Pilar, with author John Dos Passos and their friends. A local Key West doctor advised against the removal of the bullet as it was too deep into his left calf, 3-4 inches below his knee. Scientific studies have conclusively shown that long retained pure lead bullets leech into the bloodstream, where lead can travel to all the major organs including the brain. The psychological symptoms of Jackson and Beethoven overlap almost identically with Hemingway’s including: Erratic mood swings, depression, headaches, insomnia, and paranoia. Genetic depression runs in Ernest Hemingway’s mother’s side of the family, but his father Clarence was the only among his family of six siblings to die by suicide. He had depression for years, and was the only known adult Hemingway casting lead bullets. Clarence Hemingway’s parents, Anson and Adelaide, lived to be age 82 and 84 respectively.
3. Do you have a favorite Hemingway novel or short story? Why?
My all-time favorite novel by Hemingway is A Farewell to Arms. When I first read that novel as required reading for my senior year high school English class in summer of 1993, it left such an indelible memory upon me, that I led me to learn as much about his adventurous life, and remarkable career, as I could. When I first read his classic WWI novel, I was nearly about the same age as his novel’s hero Frederic Henry when he was wounded on a battlefield. Through his eyes while reading the story, I experienced love, war, bravery, drinking, and loss. It changed my life, and instilled in me the dream to become a writer.
4. In your opinion, how did Hemingway's mental health influence his writing style and themes?
Hemingway’s genius was in changing the style of American Literature, first and foremost from his experience as a journalist at the outset of his career, where he learned to use short declarative sentences, paring them down to their every bare essence, and using them in his style as a novelist. However, he brought nuance to his stories and books, by writing about his feelings on death, war, loss, and through his eyes and personal experiences as a man living with depression. Hemingway’s biographer Michael Reynolds pointed out that Hemingway’s depression was cyclical, with manic highs and depressive lows. And Reynolds said that every time he completed a new book or short stories, he would crash into a depression because wouldn’t know what to write next. I believe lead poisoning, had role in this. His biographers have said, Hemingway had “chronic depression” by January 1936, and 8 months prior, Hemingway had his second exposure to toxic lead.
5. Do you think his struggles with mental health contributed to the depth and realism in his characters?
Hemingway is known for his tragic romances he wrote of in his novels, and his realism dealt with suicide, war, and romance, and I feel his affliction with near lifelong depression informed his world view, and the human condition, which instilled in his writing, a similar view in his characters he wrote of in his stories and books. He was not all doom and gloom. He wrote of adventure, love, and his definition of courage, which he defined as ‘grace under pressure’, which made his works immortal. And he taught us that man was not made for defeat. That man could be destroyed, but not defeated. His characters felt very real, in their experiences and in the fictional worlds he created in his books and short stories. The unrealized love between Jake Barnes and Lady Brett Ashley, the tragic deaths of Catherine Barkley in A Farewell to Arms, Harry Morgan in To Have and Have Not, and Robert Jordan who died at the end of For Whom the Bell Tolls.
6. What role did external factors, such as war and trauma, play in shaping both his mental health and his writing?
I believe Hemingway’s continual role in bearing witness to war, as a war correspondent, perpetuated his growing trauma. It’s been said in the Kne Burns documentary that when he returned home from WWII, having witnessed many American casualties in the Battle in the Hürtgen Forest, he returned home from the war with trauma, and used alcohol to quell his memories of the war. Hemingway did go on to add some autobiographical aspects from his time in WWII, in his lesser novel Across the River and Into the Trees. On about page 19 of the paperback edition, a doctor asks Hemingway’s hero of that novel, Richard Cantwell, how many hits to his head he had. He then says, concussions? And the doctor said yes. He then goes on to say 10 give or take a few. Concussions are good for no one. You may derive some insight into the human condition through an experience with depression, but it definitely is bad for mental health.
7. Do you think Hemingway's work should be reread? If so, why?
I’m a strong advocate and believer that Hemingway should and must be read today, it has been a big influence on those writers who came after him, and we should hope more become inspired by his writing, so we can continue to read new works by new strong writers. New York Times Bestselling author Sebastian Junger once said after the publication of his nonfiction book, The Perfect Storm, “to some extent, every American author has been influenced by Hemingway.” Both he and Norman Mailer were dubbed “the new Hemingway”, at the outset of their careers, and were inspired in great part by Hemingway to become writers. Ah, the power of influence, and inspiration.
8. Are there any aspects of Hemingway's writing that readers often overlook on a first read?
I think Hemingway’s ability to move around each literary world he created, with a cinematic eye like a movie camera becomes even more apparent with each successive reading of his works. He brings you in for a closeup of a character or scene, and then pans outward for a general overview. His eye for detail also becomes more apparent with each reading of a work by him. It seems to me he may have had a photographic memory, which he used Masterfully as a true literary craftsman in each of his stories and books. One of his key strengths is his ability to shine a light on the human condition.
9. If Hemingway were alive today, how do you think he would perceive the discussions around mental health?
In his day and time there was a great stigma in admitting a problem with one’s mental health. He did not want it publicly known at the time, however in November 1960 he sought help. Hemingway suffered a mental breakdown in the few months leading up to that time, and according to a noted Hemingway scholar Dr. Jim Nagel, Hemingway received the sum total of 36 individual shock treatments, known as ECT electro convulsive therapy. He said it when he was interviewed by CNN in about 2001. The shock treatments robbed Hemingway of his ability to write, and in essence robbed him of his will to live. In the end, Hemingway told A.E. Hotchner the treatment at the Mayo Clinic failed him, and put him out of commission as a writer. Had he lived in this day and age, he would have been prescribed anti-depressants at the very least. However, for those with an underlying condition of heavy metal poisoning, like lead poisoning, it would only treat the symptoms of depression, and not the underlying cause. In my experiences presenting my findings at two Hemingway Society Conferences, my first in 2004 in Key West, and recently last year in July 2024 in Bilbao, Spain, I received a rousing ovation, and at the Q & A, a woman asked why its important to bring to light missed diagnoses of famous cultural icons. My answer is for the sake of closure. I feel men like Hemingway deserve it, he was heroic in his battle with depression in his life, and his resolve was strengthened and buoyed by his success and achievements as a writer. Hemingway is a 20th Century Literary Giant, and an immortal.
Scott Rossi has written a forthcoming book titled, Hemingway’s Mania, Unveiling the Mind of a Genius, and Its Modern Echoes, which he’s shopping around to literary agents. And, he was recently had an accepted for publication in the Spring 2026 issue of The Hemingway Review. His author website is: www.Scott-Rossi.com
Summer 2020 Five from the finca
1)When did the Finca reopen to visitors and how long was it closed for?
“The Finca closed on March 20th and reopened on July 13th.”
***Since the interview, the Finca has again closed as Havana has stepped back a phase in the reopening plan.
2)Is the Finca open for international visitors currently?
“No, because international visitors are not allowed on the island yet.”
3) Given the situation with COVID, are many people visiting the Finca?
“There is very little attendance at the Finca or in the community in general.”
(Our interviewee from the Finca is seen in the image to the left)
4)In the images you sent, scholars appear to be cataloging. Can you tell us more about this?
“They are working on the collections in Hemingway’s house by making an inventory of each piece that exists in the collections.”
5) 2020 has brought about the cancelation of many in-person Hemingway events. How has the virus affected plans for the rest of 2020 for the Finca?
“For the moment, all plans are postponed.”
Spring Five from the finca
Due to COVID-19, there is only one Five From the Finca interview for the spring. In this interview, Massiel Pita discusses the Spanish Art found at the Finca Vigia. Feel free to reach out with any questions you would like to see answered in the next interview.
1)How many pieces of Spanish paintings are located in the Finca?
In the hall of the house there are two Cartels of taurine topics and one painting called “La Cogida” by the artist Roberto Domingo.
In the room of the library there is one Cartel [poster] called “Toros en San Sebastián” by Roberto Domingo, too.
(More information on Roberto Domingo can be found on the following website:
http://robertodomingo.com/en/)
In the dining room is a copy of “La Masia” by Joan Miro.
2)What can you tell us about Hemingway’s history with the Spanish paintings he collected?
Those Cartels and “La Cogida” were bought by Hemingway during the decade of the 1930s. One of which was used as a cover for the book Death in the Afternoon in 1932.
3)Are there any other forms of Spanish artwork located at the Finca currently?
In the hall there are two candlesticks of the Church of the Extremadura.
4)You mentioned in a previous interview that there was an event coming for Gigi’s Allstars in December. What can you tell us about how that went? Do you have any pictures?
Sorry, I don’t have any pictures of that day. The children came with ball equipment and played a game. After that, Brian Gordon Sinclair collected with the children and the workers of the museum in front of Hemingway’s house.
5)What upcoming events at the Finca are you excited about?
I believe the next Colloquium must be the most emotional event upcoming.
***Information on the 2021 Colloquium is forthcoming
The importance of the Finca Vigia and Cuba in the life of Ernest Hemingway cannot be overstated. Unfortunately, due to the difficulties between the United States and the Cuban government, the connection between Hemingway and Cuba is not studied as in depth and as often as this portion of Hemingway’s life deserves.
This new column on the FHS website, Five From the Finca, will feature five short questions in order to open up another door of communication between the Finca and Hemingway scholars, aficionados, and fans. In this our first column the questions will be introductory in nature, and from there we will continue a conversation that we hope will be unending.
1). Could you please introduce yourself and give us a brief bio? How long have you been working at the Finca?
My name is Massiel Pita. I studied History in the University of Havana and I [have worked at the] Finca Vigia since September 3, 2018.
2). For those who have not been there, could you give us a description of the Finca Vigia?
The property is located on top of the hill in San Francisco de Paula town, near Havana City and has a territorial extension of 43,000m2. Into the property is the museum house, the garage, the bungalow and El Pilar yacht.
3). Can you explain a little bit about the importance of the Finca Vigia in Hemingway’s life?
La Vigia was important in Hemingway’s life because in this place the writer found peace and wrote books such as The Old Man and the Sea.
4). Which works did Hemingway write while at the Finca Vigia?
At the Finca Vigia he finished For Whom the Bell Tolls and he wrote Across the River and into the Trees, The Old Man and the Sea, A Moveable Feast and Islands in the Stream.
5). What are you most proud of having accomplished at the Finca so far this year?
The big accomplishment this year was the 17th International Colloquium “Ernest Hemingway.”
As we move forward, feel free to email in any questions you would like to know about the Finca and Hemingway’s life in Cuba.
November/December Five from the finca
1) Can you tell us about the statue recently dedicated on the grounds of the Finca this month?
“The bust of Hemingway was sculpted by the Swedish artist Johan Falkman. In Johan Falkman’s bust of Hemingway we find the great writer, the man and the broken man. And this representation of Hemingway’s face is mounted on a rock shipped to Cuba from Sweden.”
2) What can you share about the ceremony?
“The ceremony was carried out in front of the house. It was raining the whole morning, but the sculpture was discovered in the presence of a great number of people.”
3) Who was in attendance?
“In the ceremony was present workers of the museum, people of the Consejo Nacional de Patrimonio Cultural, Swedish guests, Tomas Wiklund: ambassador of Sweden in Cuba, Björn Cronstedt: cultural aggregate of the Swedish embassy in Cuba, Dan and Chistin Olofsson: the patrons and Johan Falkman: the artist.”
4) What connection did Hemingway have with the Swedish Embassy of Cuba or the country of Sweden?
“Hemingway could not travel to Sweden for the Nobel Prize ceremony. Therefore, the Swedish envoy Carl-Herbert Borgenstierna had the honour of delivering the prize at Finca Vigía in San Francisco de Paula, Havana, where the writer was recovering after two airplane accidents. The award ceremony was quickly completed. By the way, the lunch that Hemingway celebrated with the Cojimar's anglers when he received the prize in the gardens of Cerveceria ‘La Modelo’ was in my town: El Cotorro.”
5) Are there other statues or items on the grounds of the Finca that have been donated from countries other than Cuba and the United States?
“In the Finca there is a sculpture by the italian artist Renzo Orvieto( 1922- 1999), it's in the office of the director.”
Thank you Massiel Pita for informing us on this beautiful ceremony. More images have been loaded onto the Florida Hemingway Society Facebook page.
September Five from the finca
1.) We had a question sent in regarding the art Hemingway collected in the Finca. I’d like to answer this one room by room. Could you tell readers about the art in this room [picture can be seen to the left].
There are many interesting things in this room such as foreign bills and coins, black and white pictures, a reproduction of Paul Klee’s Monument Under Construction [Monument in Arbeit, the original was bought by Hemingway in Berlin], and one white arms collection (this collection was a gift from Wacamba and Massai African tribes).
2.) In this same room, which animals are hanging on the walls? Can you give any background information on the animals?
In this same room we can find Kafri buffalo; it was hunted by Hemingway in Africa in 1933. In “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber” Hemingway describes the hunt of this animal. We also find a blue antelope (a white bearded male) hunted in 1954 during a second safari.
3.) What is the most interesting object in this same room?
From my point of view, the most interesting object in this room is the head of the Kafri buffalo.
4.) Hemingway left behind a large record collection in the Finca. What are the highlights of this music collection? Were any of them left out by Hemingway when he left?
Hemingway left behind around 900 records in the Finca. In this collection we may highlight some jazz records such as Louis Armstrong, Cuban music such as Rita Montaner, Bola de Neive, Ernesto Lecuna, Spanish popular music and classical music.
5.) What projects are planned for the Finca in what remains of 2019?
There is a celebration that takes place in December every year in the Finca dedicated to “Estrellas de Gigi” team [Gigi’s Allstars] organized by Brian Gordon Sinclair in Hemingway’s memory.
October Five From the Finca
Five from the Finca-October 2019
For this month’s interview, Massiel Pita from the Finca Vigia will be discussing some of the interesting items Hemingway left in his home. Next month we will be discussing the Spanish artwork in Hemingway’s house. Feel free to reach out with questions you may have about Hemingway and the Finca Vigia.
1)Hemingway had an interesting collection of swords at the Finca. What can you tell us about these swords?
“Those swords are part of a one white arms collection that belonged to the writer. It is 13 knifes, belt and batons. The knifes are for work such as: behead animals or for ceremonies.”
2)The desk in the image below is covered in items Hemingway collected and stored some value in. Raul Villarreal once said that Hemingway kept items because they stored memories for him, and he never knew if he would need the items to help remind him of ideas he could use in a story. Perhaps, then, these items had some value for him. Can you pick a few of these items and tell us about them?
“ On the desk: fascist flag and saved trophy of his participation as correspondent of war and soldier in different bellicoses conflicts; one collection of objects of animals carved in wood, bought for the Hemingways to artist of Machaco, Oriental Africa; the key of the city of Matanzas, this was delivered to Hemingway for the Cuban poeticize Carilda Oliver Labra. We also find a tray of in form wood of fish, flood of stones and other objects, that Hemingway considered of ‘good luck’. He was a superstition man.”
3)In the third image there is a beautiful piece of artwork. What can you tell us about this artwork and its meaning to Hemingway
“The painting that appears in the image is a reproduction of the work the Juan Gris: ‘El Torero’.”
4)In the same image there is a circular frame, can you explain the items in the frame or anything about their history/connection with Hemingway?
“The circular frame is ‘La Batea Mexicana’ , is a species of done handicraft of wood. This was bought by Hemingway on one of the travels that the writer carried out to Mexico.”
5)This month is the first in a great season of holidays in American culture. What can you tell us about Hemingway’s interactions with Cuban holidays? Do you know how he celebrated Cuban or American holidays while at the Finca?
“Hemingway celebrated in the Finca: Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, New Year's Eve,etc. Because in the period in which Hemingway lived in our country celebrate the same holidays that the took place in USA.”