Hemingway and Mary are Married
Cuba 1945
Christmas 1945 was a quiet affair with Ernest, Mary, and Jack exchanging presents, drinking beer, and singing carols sitting on the terrace in the hot, clear sunshine of Cuba.
Hemingway wrote every day with that clear view of the sea where the shadow of a shark could be spotted long before it reached the shore.
In January and February the Finca became a hive of activity with, as Carlos Baker described it, “arrivals and departures.” Jack left to resume his college career at the University of Montana. Guests that winter included the boxer Gene Tunney, and Charles Ritz, plus several old army friends who were finally heading home and took Hemingway up on his open invitations to “drop on by.” And he made everyone as welcome as the next. The drink and food bills went up alarmingly but Hemingway’s books and articles were selling well, even though he hadn’t had a new novel published in years.
On March 14th, 1946, Mary and Ernest formalized their marriage in Havana, and, as Baker describes it Mary:
“…found it less impressive than their informal troth-plighting ceremony at the Ritz in Paris in the fall of 1944. The scene this time was a lawyer’s office in an old-fashioned house with high - ceilings and heavy dark furniture. The lawyer rapidly read the Spanish text of the lengthy documents…
