‘When my writing luck is running well again…’: Hemingway’s final inscription written weeks before his death comes to light
A handwritten dedication dated June 16, 1961, offers a brief glimpse into Ernest Hemingway’s last hospital stay and his stated intention to write again.
Ernest Hemingway, the American writer whose spare prose reshaped 20th-century fiction, left behind a brief handwritten dedication weeks before his death that sheds light on his final period of hospital treatment and his plans to continue writing.
Hemingway, 61, was one of the most prominent literary figures of his time, winning the Pulitzer Prize in 1953 and the Nobel Prize in Literature the following year. His works, including A Farewell to Arms and The Old Man and the Sea, made him internationally famous. By 1961, however, his health had deteriorated, and he was receiving medical care at St Mary’s Hospital in Minnesota, now part of the Mayo Clinic system.
On June 16, 1961, as he was preparing to leave the hospital, Hemingway inscribed a copy of The Old Man and the Sea for Sister Immaculata, a nun who had cared for him during his stay. The full dedication reads as follows:
To Sister Immaculata
This book, hoping
to write another one as good
for her when my writing
luck is running well
again.
Hemingway died about two weeks later, on July 2, 1961, at his home in Ketchum, Idaho. He died by suicide, using a shotgun, after years of depression and declining health. In the months before his death, he had reportedly undergone repeated electroconvulsive therapy.
The one-of-a-kind edition of ‘The Old Man and the Sea’ has been donated to The Nobel Prize Museum in Stockholm, Sweden, where it is currently on display.
Aishwarya Khosla is a key editorial figure at The Indian Express, where she spearheads and manages the Books & Literature and Puzzles & Games sections, driving content strategy and execution. Aishwarya's specialty lies in book reviews, literary criticism and cultural commentary. She also pens long-form feature articles where she focuses on the complex interplay of culture, identity, and politics.
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