Synopsis cont'd...

There was gambling and other illicit trades going on in Key West and it was easy, for me, to see how people could become unfortunate victims to these vices.  It is part of human nature, unfortunately, to exploit other people’s misfortune, if a dollar can be made doing it. Nothing new there. Greed, murder, racism, lust and passion are dark but eternal motivators. And, it is fact, that there were already Nazi’s living in America and, eventually, U-boats prowling off the shores of the U.S.  I have even dived on the wreck of the S.S. Benwood, a cargo ship that ran into a Navy vessel, while both were trying to avoid a German U-boat off of Key Largo, running with their lights off.  And, of course, hurricanes are always a threat to Florida.
      It is hard to separate the myths from the facts when you deal with an historical and literary giant such as Hemingway.  But, if you go to Key West, as I did many, many times from my home in Big Pine Key, you will still feel his presence.  You can still find people who remember him and his family and everyone wants to tell you a story, whether they knew him or not. You must go to Sloppy Joe’s on a slow afternoon, a weekday, rather than a weekend; a “slow” month, like September, or May, when fewer tourists are there and I defy you not to feel Papa’s presence. I know I did.  And, as I did, I began to formulate the idea of Papa’s Problem.