He has a gray-white beard and a stocky build, and usually wears a khaki shirt and shorts. He goes by many names, but most people just call him “Papa” — a moniker inspired by Ernest Hemingway’s later-life nickname.
Papa arrived in Key West in 1981 after an old friend named Michael Whalton commented that he looked a lot like Hemingway, the legendary author who lived on the island for most of the 1930s.
Whalton was a manager at Sloppy Joe’s, the frequent hangout for Hemingway and his cohorts in the ’30s. He suggested Papa come for a visit to Key West and enter the bar’s inaugural Hemingway Look-Alike Contest that year.
Papa didn’t win the 1981 contest, but the experience sparked his enduring love for the island — and, like many others over the years, he never returned to his life in the “real world.”
He quickly made friends in the easygoing Key West community, began pursuing giant billfish in the deep offshore waters and spent his leisure hours enjoying cocktails and camaraderie at Sloppy Joe’s.
Always willing to participate in impromptu adventures, Papa earned a reputation for his storytelling talent and enthusiasm for Key West’s exuberant lifestyle. His home in the island’s historic Old Town district became a favorite getaway spot for his brothers and friends — including many who looked surprisingly like him.
Each July, they gathered for Sloppy Joe’s Hemingway Look-Alike Contest, which grew into an internationally recognized event that drew more than 125 entrants annually. Papa and his pals competed on Sloppy Joe’s stage, dressed in Hemingwayesque safari garb, employing strategies that ranged from bribing the judges (unsuccessfully) to reciting poems pleading for victory.
The camaraderie that developed among the contestants paralleled Hemingway’s Key West friendship with his so-called “mob” of literary and local cohorts. In 1997, the collection of Papas formed the Hemingway Look-Alike Society to formalize their bearded brotherhood.
Society members made charitable and media appearances, acted as informal ambassadors for Key West’s annual Hemingway Days festival — and, most importantly, raised money for their scholarship fund for Florida Keys students.
The fund was started in 2000 and was originally chaired by 1984 look-alike winner Bill Young, who had actually met Hemingway during a 1956 visit to Zaragoza, Spain. Since 2000, over $350,000 has been awarded to local students attending the College of the Florida Keys.
As the years passed, Papa continued seeking victory in the contest — competing against other look-alike wannabes who hailed from all over the U.S., as well as other countries including Brazil and Hungary. With a perseverance worthy of Hemingway himself, he never gave up.
In addition, he read the late author’s books, toured his home in Cuba and collected countless items to be auctioned to benefit the scholarship fund. He even bought his own fishing boat for deep-water fishing expeditions.
Eventually Papa DID win the Look-Alike Contest, earning the right to join other winners as judges for life. Though rumors persist that he won by warbling a parody of Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues,” he’s quick to point out that it was actually 2006 winner Chris Storm who performed Cash’s song.
Papa developed a great admiration for one competition entrant in particular: Vladimir Malikov, who lived in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Malikov had sold personal property to finance his trip from the former Soviet republic to Key West one year — where he achieved his longtime dream of competing in the contest.
Though he spoke no English, Malikov communicated through an interpreter. Onstage at Sloppy Joe’s, when he proudly displayed a T-shirt signed by other contestants and look-alike judges, the interpreter read his plans for it.
“I will give the T-shirt to the National Museum of Kazakhstan as evidence of our friendship,” the interpreter read as Malikov, Papa and their bearded brethren beamed from ear to ear.
These days, scores of men who look like Ernest Hemingway (and thus resemble Papa) descend on Key West each July for Hemingway Days, which takes places this year July 23-27.
In their sportsman’s attire, with their stocky builds and carefully groomed beards, it’s not easy to tell them apart as they stroll through Old Town and inevitably gather at Sloppy Joe’s for the competition and associated activities.
Papa is always on hand to judge the contest and offer insights to new entrants — because the more he learns about Ernest Hemingway, the closer he feels to the man who shared his physical characteristics and love of Key West.
In fact, though he doesn’t consider himself a fanciful person, some nights when he strolls home through Old Town’s darkened streets after a cocktail or two, he can almost feel the author walking beside him.
