doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com HEMINGWAY'S SUICIDE GUN

Jim, I can't comment on artifacts because it's the first I've heard of them, and would only be interested if they were referenced to time, place, authenticity, principals involved etc.

As Sergeant Friday used to say, "Just the facts, m'am."

When I have a lead on a story, I start at the most obvious place to check it out, in the same way when the tractor won't start I check for gas instead of tapping on the solenoid.

An editor told me when I started on a provincial daily 60-plus years ago to forget motives, don't impute motives, just get the who, what, where, when and how and the motives will look after themselves.

King:
I sent you a PM.
Jim

I was not being facetious when I asked if Carlos Baker measured the chokes of the purported Boss suicide gun. The who, what, where, when, and how given in the previous posts overwhelmingly refute what biographer Baker wrote.

The Guns and Garden researcher states the gun was probably a W&C Scott Live Pigeon gun.

The pieces of chopped up gun held at the welding shop in Ketchum, Idaho are not from a Boss, (or a Beretta or Model 21)
and three generations of welders have not tried to profit from the artifacts.

Jimmy W. states his tape shows Hemingway's son saying the suicide gun was a Beretta or Model 21.

Abercrombie&Fitch has no record of Hemingway purchasing a Boss from them.

Two of Hemingway's close hunting buddies know nothing of him ever owning a Boss.

The Lloyd Arnold photos in the JFK Library show Hemingway with many shotguns, but no Boss.

It would appear the imputed motive here is to hold up Carlos Baker as infallable and beyond reproach. The overwhelming body of evidence is that this biographer probably filled in some gaps with a little bit of literary license. He wouldn't be the first author to commit that sin.

But in the end, I agree most with RHD45 who said this suicide was a thoughtless and selfish act. If he could not stand the pain of living and felt he had to hasten God's hand, it surely would have been less traumatic for his family if he had washed down a bottle of Valium with a fifth of Bourbon. If nothing else, the world would have one more tightly choked gun for ED1 to hone out and torch color. Excuse me, Ed just sells 'em. Master Gunsmith Ed Lander does the choke and torch work.

Keith, almost everyone knows that no one is infallible and beyond reproach, and I know as practitioner of the craft and almost everyone else knows that historical accounts from most distinguished sources change with time as more information becomes available. It happens every day.

I'm currently working on two non-fiction books about a Canadian citizen-soldier and a painter. What impeccable sources provided when these persons were alive is seriously different from what's said about them after their deaths. The most surpassing BS is in official war records.

Ambiguity cloaks cited accounts of the artifacts. That's common. As for no one attempting to profit from them, not everything is about money. Our family stories are often skewed by repetition, however well-intentioned. I do not judge EH's action. He had lost his great mental faculties, his reason.

Regards, King

The guy had good taste.

King,

Exactly. I'm glad we agree, except on one matter... when my old Massey Ferguson won't start, my first reaction is to tap the starter solenoid before anything else. Usually that works. Actually, I can reach it with my left foot and give it a kick without getting off the seat.

jOe,

I suppose it would have been a bit tacky to use a tenite stocked Savage 311.

Can't reach solenoid with foot on my 1972 diesel MF 135 UK model, Keith.

I told a pressingly solicitous dealer last month that if he had a tractor on the lot I'd buy it---if it was as good as my MF.

With a big smile, he nodded and said "Yes, that was a good one."

Thank you. My wife works for a dentist and magazines are delivered to them free to put in the waiting room. She brought home the first issue of Garden & Gun as soon as it arrived. I thumbed through it and the first few but after that I told her to instead just throw them in the trash. Even before I knew about their issue with the NRA I thought their magazine sucked.