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| A.E. Hotchner | |
A.E. Hotchner, a "well-traveled author, playwright and gadabout whose street smarts and famous pals led to a loving, but litigated memoir of Ernest Hemingway, business adventures with Paul Newman and a book about his Depression-era childhood that became a Steven Soderbergh film," died February 15, the Associated Press reported. He was 102. Hotchner "read, wrote and hustled himself out of poverty and went on to publish more than a dozen books, befriend countless celebrities and see his play, The White House, performed at the real White House for President Bill Clinton."
In his 90s, Hotchner wrote a book of essays about aging, O.J. in the Morning, G&T at Night; and at 100, he published a detective novel, The Amazing Adventures of Aaron Broom. At 101, he adapted Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea for the stage. His other books include King of the Hill (1972), adapted 20 years later into the Soderbergh film; The Day I Fired Alan Ladd, and Other World War II Adventures (2002); and The Man Who Lived at the Ritz (1981).
After World War II, Hotchner became an editor at Cosmopolitan, and eventually "lucked his way into literary history" when the magazine sent him to Cuba to track down Hemingway, who Cosmo wanted to write an article about the "Future of Literature." The assignment "began a friendship that lasted until Hemingway's suicide, in 1961," the AP noted, adding: "From Spain to Idaho, they hunted, drank and attended bullfights. They lived through Hemingway's inspiring highs and fatal lows," later chronicled in Hotchner's best known book, Papa Hemingway (1966), which has been translated into more than 25 languages.
Hotchner often served as Hemingway's agent, helping to edit The Dangerous Summer and coming up with the title for the posthumous release of A Moveable Feast. His TV adaptation of Hemingway's story "The Battler" led to a fortuitous meeting with Newman, the production's star, after which the two "became friends, pranksters, fishing buddies, neighbors and business partners," the Times wrote.
Newman would later approach Hotchner to help out with an idea to sell homemade salad dressing at some local shops. "That was just a joke," Hotchner told the AP in 2005. "It was something on the fly. 'Let's put up $40,000 and we'll be businessmen.' " The rest is history. After Newman's death, Hotchner wrote Paul and Me.