Born on April 1, 1915, in Oak Park, Illinois, Leicester Clarence Hemingway was sixteen years younger than his famous brother, Ernest, and lived in the shadow of the literary legend his entire life. However, by all accounts, Leicester idolized his older brother and eventually became a respected writer in his own right. Ernest nicknamed his little brother, “the Baron.” In 1953, Leicester published his first novel, The Sound of the Trumpet, which was loosely based on his wartime experiences in France and Germany during World War II. In 1962, Leicester published the critically acclaimed biography, My Brother, Ernest Hemingway.

Believe it or not, Leicester founded his own micronation called the “Republic of New Atlantis” (actually an eight-foot-by-30-foot barge located just 12 nautical miles off the coast of Jamaica) in 1965. Stating that “there’s no law that says you can’t start your own country,” Leicester even created a New Atlantis flag, issued New Atlantis postage stamps, and created New Atlantis currency. Unfortunately, New Atlantis was completely destroyed during a tropical storm the following year. An active outdoorsman like his brother, Leicester frequently fished off the coast of Bimini and even published a monthly newsletter, The Bimini Out Islands News. He even appeared on a 1980 episode of In Search of … titled “The Bimini Wall.” Faced with several debilitating health issues, Leicester died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in his Miami Beach home on September 13, 1982, at the age of sixty-seven.

On Ernest’s Life
“Ernest lived as he died—violently. He had a tremendous respect for courage. During his own lifetime he traded in it, developed it, and taught other people a great deal about it. And his own courage never deserted him. What finally failed him was his body. This can happen to anyone.”

On Havana
“Havana is one of the loveliest, wickedest, most mysterious and enchanting cities in the world.”

On Robert Capa
“Robert Capa had come to Spain via central Europe as a photographer. He went where Ernest went, drank where Ernest drank, made jokes that made Ernest laugh, and generally proved himself one hell of a fine fellow.”

On Ernest’s Drinking Prowess
“Ernest was then drinking fifteen to seventeen Scotch-and-sodas over the course of a day. He was holding them remarkably well.”

On Ernest’s Love of Cats
“Much as been written about Ernest’s enormous fondness for cats. He claimed they were superior to people of unknown quality. ‘A cat has absolute emotional honesty, Baron,’ he told me once. ‘Male or female, a cat will show you how it feels about you. People hide their feelings for various reasons, but cats never do.'”