Being a "cat person" comes with an unfortunate stigma (though a glance at the internet would tell us that cats clearly rule). But that was definitely not the case for Ernest Hemingway. The manliest man to ever hit the literary scene had a soft spot in his heart for felines.
One of his companions was a six-toed white cat named Snowball, which was given to him by a ship's captain and lived at his Key West estate.
Today, the house is home to a museum and around 40 to 50 cats. (A few felines can allegedly trace their lineage back to Snowball.) We say "allegedly," because the topic of cats on the estate has been the subject of debate -- Hemingway's son Patrick says that the cats on the Key West property aren't, in fact, related to Snowball, or any of the legendary author's cats:
Hemingway liked cats, but Pauline, to whom he was married, wanted peacocks. So they got peacocks for the yard ... The time when he had so many cats was when he lived in San Francisco de Paula, Cuba.
Regardless of where you fall on the Key West cat debate, you'll enjoy the below pictures of Hemingway happily playing with his pets. (We also assume he would be in favor of National Cat Day.)
Take a peek through Hemingway's Key West estate, below. All photos by Christy Transier, courtesy of the Hemingway Home & Museum.
Ernest Hemingway's Home
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