If you’ve ever been to one of the Disney theme parks, you know that a “Hidden Mickey” refers to sightings of Mickey Mouse in unexpected places. For example, you can find “classic” Mickey locks hanging on the cabinets behind Captain Jack Sparrow in the treasure room to the left of your boat on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disney World, according to the website HiddenMickeyGuy.com. That said, if you come to my guest Robert K. Elder’s new book, Hidden Hemingway: Inside the Ernest Hemingway Archives of Oak Park, thinking it’s that kind of story, you’ll be disappointed. (Note to the author: Got a great idea for a sequel…) Hidden Hemingway is, instead, a deep dive into what is apparently an endless collection of Hemingway family documents, souvenirs, letters and ephemera dating back decades. Elder – along with co-authors Aaron Vetch and Mark Cirino – have sorted through stacks of Hemingwayana to share everything from baby pictures and high school memorabilia to Papa’s handwritten letters to his own papa and his membership card from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Even if you’ve read his novels and/or Carlos Baker’s exhaustive biography, there is plenty to fascinate any Hemingway fan here.
