Strange final days for son of Hemingway

Associated Press

MIAMI — Gregory Hemingway, the youngest son of macho novelist Ernest Hemingway, died a transsexual by the name of Gloria in a cell at a women’s jail, authorities said. He was 69.

Hemingway — a former doctor who wrote a well-received book about his father, "Papa: A Personal Memoir" — was found dead Monday of what the medical examiner’s office said was high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease.

He had been arrested last week, at least his third arrest in the county. He was in jail awaiting a court appearance on charges of indecent exposure and resisting arrest.

Janelle Hall, a spokeswoman for the county corrections department, said Hemingway had undergone a sex-change operation. Hall said she did not know when.

Key Biscayne police arrested Hemingway at a park on Sept. 25 after finding him putting on his underwear. He was carrying a dress and high-heel shoes. He appeared intoxicated or mentally impaired, officer Nelia Real said.

"He said his name was Gloria," Real said. "He looked like a man, but his nails were painted and he was wearing jewelry and makeup. … He was very nice to me. At times he was very coherent, but other times he didn’t make any sense."

The son of the author and his second wife, Pauline Pfeiffer, was born in Kansas City, Mo., and graduated from the University of Miami Medical School. The elder Hemingway committed suicide in 1961.

In Gregory Hemingway’s 1976 book, which had a preface by Norman Mailer, the novelist’s son wrote: "I never got over a sense of responsibility for my father’s death. And the recollection of it sometimes made me act in strange ways."

Hemingway’s Florida medical license was revoked in 1988 after Montana authorities would not renew his license to practice in that state. His daughter, Lorian Hemingway, wrote a 1992 memoir, "Walk on Water," in which she said her father lost his medical license because of an addiction.

Hemingway was married four times. His last marriage, in 1992, ended in divorce in 1995.

Hemingway, whose last known address was in Miami’s Coconut Grove, had been arrested at least three times in the mid-1990s on charges including battery on a police officer and aggravated assault. The outcome of those cases was not immediately available.

In 1997, Hemingway joined with his brothers, Jack and Patrick, in battling the organizers of the sometimes rowdy Hemingway Days celebration in Key West. They said they wanted a more dignified gathering and royalty payments. The celebration was canceled, but then revived. Jack Hemingway, who also wrote a memoir of his father, died last year.