Patrick Powell
asked
Amanda Vaill:
Hi. I've just finished your book Hotel Florida, which I have to say is not only entertaining and informative, but the sheer effort you put into researching it impressed me greatly. I have one question: given his background supporting the Loyalists and his often slavish support for Stalin, was Hemingway in anyway troubled by the House Un-American Committee? PP
Amanda Vaill
I'm so sorry not to have answered this earlier; I've been working on a new book and I guess I fell further down the rabbit hole than I thought! In response to your question, since I wasn't looking closely at material after 1940, I didn't poke around very much in the HUAC or FBI records. I never found that he was troubled by HUAC, though, and I must say I found this puzzling, as, apparently, did Hemingway himself, who feared they might make an issue of his "premature antifascism" or his agreement to act as an agent (code-named ARGO) of the NKVD. Nicholas Reynolds has written a book about Hemingway's "intelligence" career that might be of interest to you; but Reynolds never got a hit on HUAC either. Curious.
More Answered Questions
Katelyn Turner
asked
Amanda Vaill:
Dear Amanda Vaill, I am writing from Rowman & Littlefield because we’ll soon be publishing Dateline—Liberated Paris: The Hotel Scribe and the Invasion of the Press, by Ronald Weber. Might you consider providing an endorsement that we could use on the back cover? If you are interested in more information, please contact me at kturner@rowman.com. https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781538118511 Best, Katelyn
Fastidious Kingdoms
asked
Amanda Vaill:
I loved your biography of the Murphys, and hope to revisit it soon. I’ve carried around a question the past 10 years or more, and you’re one of a handful on the entire planet who might know the answer. Although they all lived in Paris at the same time and hung out with the same people, I’ve never been able to confirm if the Murphys ever met Sylvia Beach or Getrude and Alice. Do you know? Thank you!
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