My Cousin, Ernest Hemingway

First off I guess I should clarify that the famous novelist and writer Ernest Hemingway is not my cousin, he’s actually a distant cousin of mine. Maybe make that a very distant cousin. We share the same family lineage which relates us both to William and Elizabeth (Mathews) Tuttle. They are Hemingway’s 11th generation grandparents and my 12th generation grandparents.

William and Elizabeth married sometime before 1631, in England. In 1635, with their three children, they left England for America. They would have another nine children over the next 17 years.

Their son John had a granddaughter, Jemima Tuttle. In 1707, she married Thomas Jacobs, who was my 9th generation grandfather. John’s brother, Joseph, had a great-granddaughter, Mercy Tuttle. In 1746, she married Abraham Hemingway, who was Ernest Hemingway’s 8th generation grandfather.

Therefore, Jemima and Mercy were first cousins three times removed; making Ernest and me first cousins 12 times removed. Although I simply refer to him as my cousin Hemingway.

I never had the pleasure of meeting my cousin Hemingway. He died in 1961 and I was born seven years later. Yet we do have something in common – writing! Since my childhood, I’ve been writing poetry, short stories, books, and novels. I have even created a life and a business which allows me the privilege of helping other writers achieve their writing goals.

While Hemingway sat at a typewriter for hours pounding away at the keys and turning out such novels as “For Whom The Bell Tolls” and “Old Man and the Sea,” I spend my time at the office writing for a couple of local newspapers, working on my next book, and I also edit and coach other authors. He spent a few months as a reporter for the Kansas City Star; I also did a short stint as a reporter for a local paper covering the shoreline area of Connecticut. Hemingway lived in Europe and also Florida. I too, have lived in Europe and currently reside in the Sunshine State.

For me, writing is a passion and I’m sure it was for Hemingway too. Not sure if anyone in the Tuttle lineage ever wrote a book or was a reporter for the paper, but Hemingway and I have done both; although I will admit he has had much greater successes than me; but there is still time for me to write the next great all American novel.

Hemingway once said, “It’s none of their business that you have to learn how to write. Let them think you were born that way.” True, no one is actually born a writer, but Hemingway sure did make it look easy.

Enough about my cousin and me, it’s time to get back to the office and get some writing done. But before I go, any famous writers in your family?