Just call him “Papa.”
Actually, call them all “Papa” — all 140 of the white-bearded men wearing either fishermen’s knit sweaters or khaki fishing shirts while competing for the title of 2023 Hemingway Look Alike winner.
The 2023 title went to Gerrit Marshall from Madison, Wisconsin on his 11th attempt.
Marshall, a retired television broadcast engineer, triumphed over nearly 140 other entrants to win the contest’s final round on Saturday, July 22, which was also Marshall’s 68th birthday — and one day after Hemingway’s birthday. (He would have been 124 years old on July 21.)
“This is the best birthday I have ever had,” Marshall said after his victory at Sloppy Joe’s Bar, where Hemingway often gathered with friends while living in Key West during the 1930s.
The contest is a highlight of Key West’s annual Hemingway Days festival that wrapped up July 23. Preliminary rounds took place July 20 and 21, with most look-alike entrants emulating the rugged “Papa” persona that Hemingway adopted in his later years.
For the final round on July 22, spectators packed Sloppy Joe’s, cheering wildly and waving signs when their favorite “aspiring Ernests” paraded onstage to be judged by a panel of past winners.
Marshall said he shared an interest in writing and outdoor pursuits with Hemingway, but doesn’t envy the late author’s four marriages.
“Like Hemingway, I have a love of the outdoors; I love fishing one heck of a lot,” he said. “I only have one wife, but that doesn’t matter — that’s all I need.”
Hemingway Look-Alike finalists Frank Long, left, and Jeff Owenby give their best impersonations of the legendary author. LARRY BLACKBURN/Keys Weekly 
A lighthearted spoof of the ‘Running of the Bulls’ in Pamplona, Spain takes place July 22 on Duval Street. Scores of bearded men wearing the traditional white shirts and red scarves opted for the non-controversial Key West event featuring replica bulls and plenty of libations. LARRY BLACKBURN/Keys Weekly 
The ‘Running of the Bulls’ — Key West version — starts at the corner of Duval and Greene streets in Key West. LARRY BLACKBURN/Keys Weekly 
Gerrit Marshall of Madison, Wisconsin wins the 2023 Hemingway Look-Alike contest at Sloppy Joe’s Bar on July 22. LARRY BLACKBURN/Keys Weekly
Earlier in the day on July 22, dozens of the same white-bearded men resembling Ernest Hemingway and a breed of “bull” likely found only in Key West starred in the “Running of the Bulls,” a lighthearted spoof of the famed run held annually in Pamplona, Spain.
A slow-paced ramble rather than a “run,” the Key West event featured stocky, bearded Hemingway look-alikes — dressed in the all-white garb and red scarves typically worn at the Pamplona challenge — parading through the island’s historic downtown with a “herd” of life-size replica bulls on wheels.
The annual Hemingway Days festivities salute the adventurous lifestyle and literary talent of the Nobel Prize-winning author, who spent nearly a decade living and writing in Key West.
“It is exhilarating to know that Hemingway was here, and to walk in his footsteps,” said Marshall.
During his Key West years, the author wrote many of his most famous works, including “To Have and Have Not,” “The Snows of Kilimanjaro” and “For Whom the Bell Tolls.”
