KEY WEST, Fla. (AP) 鈥 On his 68th birthday, a white-bearded Wisconsin man won the Hemingway Look-Alike Contest, a highlight of Key West鈥檚 annual Hemingway Days celebration that ends Sunday.
Gerrit Marshall, a retired television broadcast engineer from Madison, prevailed Saturday night at Sloppy Joe鈥檚 Bar, a frequent hangout of Ernest Hemingway when he lived in Key West during the 1930s.
鈥淭his is the best birthday I have ever had,鈥 said Marshall, whose birthday falls just one day after the July 21 anniversary of Hemingway鈥檚 birth.
On his 11th attempt, Marshall triumphed over nearly 140 other entrants in the contest that featured two preliminary rounds and Saturday鈥檚 finals.
Competitors in sportsman鈥檚 attire, most emulating the rugged 鈥淧apa鈥 persona Hemingway adopted in his later years, paraded onstage at Sloppy Joe鈥檚 before a judging panel of previous winners.
Marshall said he shares several characteristics besides appearance with Hemingway, and has written both nonfiction and short fiction.
鈥淟ike Hemingway, I have a love of the outdoors; I love fishing one heck of a lot,鈥 he said, citing catches of walleye and northern pike in Wisconsin waters, as well as angling for tarpon in the Florida Keys.
He said, however, that he can鈥檛 match the late author鈥檚 tally of four marriages.
鈥淚 only have one wife, but that doesn鈥檛 matter 鈥 that鈥檚 all I need,鈥 said Marshall.
As well as the contest and other festival events, the look-alikes focus on raising scholarship funds for Keys students. Hemingway Look-Alike Society president David Douglas estimated that they amassed close to $125,000 during the 2023 festival.
Hemingway Days salutes the vigorous lifestyle and literary legacy of the Nobel Prize-winning author, who wrote enduring classics including 鈥淔or Whom the Bell Tolls鈥 and 鈥淭o Have and Have Not鈥 while living in Key West from 1931 until late 1939.
