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Jimmy the Bartender

Jimmy was a friend of Hemingway’s. An Englishman, he was the bartender in the Falstaff, an English bar, and had also been a professional lightweight boxer; perhaps the foundations of he and Hemingway’s friendship. While not at all involved in the literary side of things, Jimmy had been able to offer Callaghan some insight into Hemingway’s writing – Callaghan had asked him about Lady Duff (Lady Brett in The Sun Also Rises), whom Jimmy had known. Jimmy described her as “one of those horsey English girls”, and begged him not to tell Hemingway.

“And in the oak-panelled Falstaff, Jimmy behind the bar, and Hemingway coming in, looking lonely, then his face lighting up with his quick sweet smile when he saw us, friends he could feel free to sit down with. It was all too vivid in my mind.” (http://fitzgerald.narod.ru/bio/callaghan-thatsum.html)

As Callaghan learns of Hemingway’s death and reflects on his time in Paris, Jimmy and the Falstaff, while not necessarily a huge part of the story, do hold a significant spot in Callaghan’s memory. Jimmy is a link; a reminder of Hemingway, of their boxing matches, and of the many drinks they shared together. 

 

WORKS CITED

Callaghan, Morley. 1963. That Summer in Paris: Memories of Tangled Friendships with Ernest Hemingway and Scott Fitzgerald. Available at: http://fitzgerald.narod.ru/bio/callaghan-thatsum.html