NC man wins ‘Papa’ Hemingway look-alike contest

KEY WEST, FL (WWAY) — A North Carolina man named Hemingway won the annual Ernest “Papa” Hemingway Look-Alike Contest in Key West, Florida Saturday night.

The contest is a highlight of the Key West’s annual Hemingway Days festival that ends Sunday.

The sixty-five year old contest winner, Dave Hemingway, said he’s not related to the famous author, but feels that it was his turn to win after having entered the contest seven times already. Hemingway lives in Macon, North Carolina, about sixy miles north of Raleigh, and owns a company that installs automatic teller machines at banks.

The contest was held at Sloppy Joe’s Bar, where the author often drank when he lived in Key West in the 1930’s. Crowds of spirited spectators waved signs, cheered and rocked the house with dancing and applause when contestants parodied Hemingway. Some hopefuls wore wool turtleneck sweaters, which were favored by the author.

Finalists included six-time competitor Michael Groover of Savannah, Georgia, whose wife is celebrity chef Paula Deen. Deen cheered on her husband from the audience at Sloppy Joe’s.

The six-day celebration of Hemingway Days included an offbeat “Running of the Bulls,” literary readings, the Bacardi Oakheart Key West Marlin Tournament and a July 21 “birthday” commemoration of the 117th anniversary of “Papa’s” birth.