ΝEW YORK – Michael Katakis, born in Chicago to a Greek immigrant father and mother who was the daughter of Greek immigrants, is an author and photographer as well as the director of Ernest Hemingway’s literary estate.His latest book, Ernest Hemingway: Artifacts From a Life, was published in October.
Among his other books are Despatches (special limited edition), The Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial, A Thousand Shards of Glass: There Is Another America, Traveller: Observations From an American in Exile, and Photographs and Words written with his late wife Kris L. Hardin. He is the editor of Sacred Trusts: Essays on Stewardship and Responsibility and Excavating Voices: Listening to Photographs of Native Americans. His work has been translated into multiple languages, including Greek, and his writing and photography have been collected by The National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC; the Victoria and Albert Museum and the British Library in London; and Stanford University’s Special Collections Department. In 1999, Michael was elected Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.
Katakis recently told the Associated Press that two lesser known stories by the iconic American author will be published next year in a special reissue of Hemingway’s classic novel For Whom the Bell Tolls. The stories, The Monumentand Indian Country and the White Army,originally written in the 1950s, will appear alongside another little known, except among academics, story, A Room on the Garden Sidewhich appeared in The Strand magazine this summer.
For Whom the Bell Tolls: The Hemingway Library Edition will be published in the summer. Set during the Spanish Civil War, the novel was a favorite of Sen. John McCain, who died in August, and the title of an HBO documentary about the Arizona Republican and Vietnam War veteran.
Katakis edited and wrote the introduction for Ernest Hemingway: Artifacts from a Life and has overseen numerous posthumous projects. He has worked in coordination with the author’s son, Patrick Hemingway, on reissues of A Moveable Feast, Green Hills of Africa, and other books, along with the controversial publication of True at First Light, which Ernest Hemingway had left unfinished when he killed himself in 1961.
“I’ve been talking to Patrick for a long time and we always ask the same question, ‘Is there a reason for this to be released?’” Katakis said during an AP interview. He declined to comment further on why they had decided to publish the 1950s stories, part of the Ernest Hemingway Collection at the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum in Boston.
Hemingway wrote five pieces in 1956, reflecting upon his time as a correspondent and participant in World War II. He would tell his publisher, Charles Scribner Jr., the stories likely needed to come out after his death because they were “a little shocking” and dealt “with irregular troops and combat and with people who actually kill people,” AP reported.
One of those works, Black Ass at the Crossroads, was released years ago, while The Bubble Reputation will at present remain unpublished.
Ernest Hemingway: Artifacts from a Life also draws from the collection at the JFK library and features photographs, letters, and extensive annotations. Hemingway fans will especially enjoy this unique book which is available online and in bookstores.
Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.
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