Papa’s Home

NBC-TV reported recently on the ongoing struggle to restore Ernest Hemingway’s former home near Havana, Cuba, in which “Papa” wrote For Whom the Bell Tolls (1940) and The Old Man and the Sea (1952), among many other works.

Hemingway fled Cuba in 1960, after the country’s revolution, and Hemingway’s residence, known as Finca Vigía, has largely remained as he left it. However, as the video shows (see here), the effects of time, neglect, and countless tropical storms have left scars. The Cuban government, with American technical assistance, is attempting to restore the home, the artifacts, and the author’s fishing boat, The Pilar.

American money, however, isn’t part of the equation. The Bush administration views any financial assistance to be in violation of the Cuban Trade Embargo, which has been effect ever since 1962.

We can only hope that Fidel Castro’s seemingly imminent demise will enable U.S. lawmakers to begin building a sensible Cuba policy to replace the failure that has been in place through nine U.S. presidencies. Hemingway’s home should not be a political piñata.

Read more about preservation efforts here.