White-bearded Wisconsin man wins Hemingway look-alike contest on birthday

An annual Ernest Hemingway look-alike contest in the US has been won by a white-bearded Wisconsin man who was celebrating his 68th birthday.

The contest is the highlight of Key West’s annual Hemingway Days celebration.

Gerrit Marshall, a retired television broadcast engineer from Madison, prevailed at Sloppy Joe’s Bar, a frequent hangout of Hemingway when he lived in Key West during the 1930s.

“This is the best birthday I have ever had,” said Mr Marshall, whose birthday falls just one day after the July 21 anniversary of Hemingway’s birth.

On his 11th attempt, Mr Marshall triumphed over nearly 140 other entrants in the contest that featured two preliminary rounds and the final.

Competitors in sportsman’s attire, most emulating the rugged “Papa” persona Hemingway adopted in his later years, paraded onstage at Sloppy Joe’s before a judging panel of previous winners.

Mr Marshall said he shares several characteristics besides his appearance with Hemingway, and has written both non-fiction and short fiction.

“Like Hemingway, I have a love of the outdoors; I love fishing one heck of a lot,” he said.

However, he said that he cannot match the late author’s tally of four marriages.

“I only have one wife, but that doesn’t matter — that’s all I need,” said Mr Marshall.

Hemingway Days salutes the Nobel Prize-winning author, who wrote enduring classics including For Whom The Bell Tolls and To Have And Have Not while living in Key West from 1931 until late 1939.