Scholar's Spotlight: Susan Beegel on the Maine Marlin
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In this episode, the inimitable Susan Beegel joins producer Michael Von Cannon for a special "Scholar's Spotlight" episode.
Beegel tells Michael about her article "Fish Tale: A History of the L.C. Bates Museum Marlin, Taxidermist Fred C.N. Parke, and Ernest Hemingway," which appeared in the Fall 2018 issue of the Hemingway Review. Listen in as she unlocks the mysteries surrounding a taxidermied Hemingway marlin that she came across in a museum in Hinckley, Maine.
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As Beegel explores the intertwined story of Hemingway and Parke, she dives into the culture of deep-sea fishing along the Florida Keys, the importance of Henry Flagler's Overseas Railroad, and the conflicted relationship Hemingway had with the upper crust. In doing so, she follows the trail of Hemingway's artistic growth and literary celebrity. The marlin becomes a symbol of what the writer lost, what he never possessed, and what he finally determined to hook and land.
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This episode was recorded on February 22, 2019.