The Avatar (1929-1944)

Referring to himself as "Papa," Ernest Hemingway strived to be an expert on everything. This desire to be knowledgeable on all subjects was often reflected in his writing, especially as he sought to master nonfiction and hoped to pass forward his learnings to others. Studying Hemingway as a young writer, novelist Ralph Ellison once learned how to lead a bird from a hunting description in his work.

In 1935, a hurricane hit Florida killing more than 400 people, including 259 homeless veterans of WWI. Hemingway, whose peers denounced him during the Great Depression for his refusal to declare solidarity with the working class, admonished the Roosevelt administration in "New Masses" magazine for its role in sending veterans south to build highway bridges to bring visitors to the Florida Keys.

As another war in Europe loomed with Adolf Hitler's rise and the spread of fascism, Hemingway told readers of "Esquire" that America shouldn't get involved. Yet when Spain found itself in the midst of civil war and fascist Francisco Franco, with the aid of Hitler and Benito Mussolini, worked to overthrow the socialist government, the author felt called to return to the country he loved.

Ernest Hemingway returned to Spain to cover the civil war for the North American Newspaper Alliance, reporting alongside Collier's writer Martha Gellhorn. Beginning a three-year affair, the two stayed at the Hotel Florida, where other correspondents also resided to witness the events, despite its close proximity to a Loyalist communications center, making it an unintended target of enemy shells.

In the spring of 1939, Ernest Hemingway returned to Havana, Cuba where Martha Gellhorn would later join him. Martha rented the Finca Vigía, a 10-acre property outside the city where they could live together, which Hemingway would eventually buy and would become his home for the next two decades.

After Ernest Hemingway's relationship with Martha Gellhorn came to light and the two began to openly live together in Cuba, Pauline Hemingway did what she could to try to save her 13-year marriage with her husband. Yet despite her reluctance to grant him a divorce, on September 3, 1939, Hemingway told Pauline he was leaving her.

Published in the fall of 1940 at the end of the Spanish Civil War, Hemingway's "For Whom the Bell Tolls" follows character Robert Jordan, a young American college instructor, in his fight against fascism. Senator John McCain discusses the profound impact the novel and its hero had on him.