© 2025 Connecticut Public

FCC Public Inspection Files:
WEDH · WEDN · WEDW · WEDY
WEDW-FM · WNPR · WPKT · WRLI-FM
Public Files Contact · ATSC 3.0 FAQ
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

The importance of being Ernest: An attorney wins a Hemingway contest

Jon Auvil, center, receives an Ernest Hemingway bust and congratulations after he won the 2022 Hemingway Look-Alike Contest at Sloppy Joe's Bar in Key West, Fla. Left of Auvil is Joe Maxey, the 2019 winner, and at right is Fred Johnson, who won in 1986. It was Auvil's eighth attempt in the annual contest.
Andy Newman
/
Florida Keys News Bureau via AP
Jon Auvil, center, receives an Ernest Hemingway bust and congratulations after he won the 2022 Hemingway Look-Alike Contest at Sloppy Joe's Bar in Key West, Fla. Left of Auvil is Joe Maxey, the 2019 winner, and at right is Fred Johnson, who won in 1986. It was Auvil's eighth attempt in the annual contest.

KEY WEST, Fla. — Some came in wool fisherman's sweaters, and other contestants had sportsmen's attire. But it was the cream-colored sweater of attorney Jon Auvil that caught the eye of judges who awarded him the title for most resembling author and former Key West resident Ernest Hemingway.

Auvil triumphed Saturday night over 124 other contestants for the title in the annual Hemingway Look-Alike Contest at Sloppy Joe's Bar, the Key West establishment where the author was a regular patron during his decade-long residence on the island in the 1930s.

The look-a-like contest is a highlight of Key West's annual Hemingway Days celebration, which ended Sunday.

Auvil said he shares Hemingway's passion for fishing, has written some fiction and would like to do more writing.

"Every man wants to write like Hemingway," said Auvil, who lives in Dade City, Florida, northeast of Tampa.

While living in Key West, Hemingway wrote classics, including "For Whom the Bell Tolls" and "To Have and Have Not."

Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Federal funding is gone.

Congress has eliminated all funding for public media.

That means $2.1 million per year that Connecticut Public relied on to deliver you news, information, and entertainment programs you enjoyed is gone.

The future of public media is in your hands.

All donations are appreciated, but we ask in this moment you consider starting a monthly gift as a Sustainer to help replace what’s been lost.

SOMOS CONNECTICUT is an initiative from Connecticut Public, the state’s local NPR and PBS station, to elevate Latino stories and expand programming that uplifts and informs our Latino communities. Visit CTPublic.org/latino for more stories and resources. For updates, sign up for the SOMOS CONNECTICUT newsletter at ctpublic.org/newsletters.

SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

Federal funding is gone.

Congress has eliminated all funding for public media.

That means $2.1 million per year that Connecticut Public relied on to deliver you news, information, and entertainment programs you enjoyed is gone.

The future of public media is in your hands.

All donations are appreciated, but we ask in this moment you consider starting a monthly gift as a Sustainer to help replace what’s been lost.

Related Content