* Dianna Stampfler, President of Promote Michigan

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:23):
Ernest Hemingway said, live the full life of the mind,
exhilarated by new ideas, intoxicated by the romance of the unusual.
And the American literary giant, who spent most of his
youth in northern Michigan at Walloom Lake, viewed death as
a finality that provided a stark reality against which to

(00:47):
measure a person's life. And he believed that people are
defined by how they face this certainty, and that living
in proximity to death was the way to live life
to its fullest. He often wrote about it. Unfortunately, we're
talking about it this morning because Chris Struble has passed away.

(01:10):
Chris Struble from Pataski, who frequented this program to talk
about Papa Hemingway. And he talked to Papa Hemingway about
anyone who would listen, and he furthered his legacy through
tours and special events. And it was September ninth, twenty
twenty four, the last time we spoke with Chris Struble

(01:32):
on the one hundred and twenty fifth anniversary of Hemingway
at Walloon Lake.

Speaker 2 (01:36):
Twenty three of those most influential summers. What we think
of the great things of Hemingway, hunting, fishing, the love
the outdoors, and most importantly that sense of adventure off
stemmed from Northern Michigan. His first visit was one hundred
and twenty five years ago. And then, of course he
was married twenty five percent of his marriages. The first one,
the Hadley, would have happened in September also of nineteen

(01:57):
twenty one, So we got two milestones that were celebrating.

Speaker 1 (02:02):
Diana Stanfler were morning this morning. She is the president
of Promote Michigan, and she knew Chris Druble very well
and in fact introduced him to us in the first place.
I'm sorry about the news.

Speaker 3 (02:13):
Yes, it's been a rough time of it Miken. I'm
glad that we have those interviews to keep his story,
to keep Chris's boys out there, to keep he was
such a wonderful storyteller of Hemingway and Northern Michigan and
so many other things. And I met him about ten
years ago interviewing him for an article for Michigan Blue magazine.

(02:37):
And we set an hour aside for the interview at
his store is Arlington Jewelry store in downtown Potowski, And
five hours later I walked out of that store because
we connected. We talked about Hemingway, we talked about history,
we talked about the people we knew in common, and
all of the beautiful things about northern Michigan and the

(02:57):
Upper Peninsula. And it created this friendship. It brought me
into the Hemingway society. I mean, I got this assignment going. Okay, yeah,
I know a little bit about Hemanway. But he had
an infectious smile and infectious laugh and an infectious love
of Hemingway that brought so many people into that fold.

Speaker 1 (03:20):
I don't even know how old he was, because he
spoke with such vigor about young Ernest Hemingway, and he
reminded us all that it was a very young Hemingway
who wrote his very first short story called Up in
Michigan in the Walloon Lake area, talking about places like
man Salona and so forth. But how old was he?

(03:41):
And what happened?

Speaker 3 (03:44):
Chris was fifty eight, and he he struggled. He was
a brilliant, sensitive soul, much like Hemingway. And Chris lost
his mom a few years ago and he could never

(04:04):
write that ship. He just could not correct himself, and
depression started to creep in and in recent weeks, it
overcame him. There were several of us actively communicating with him,

(04:25):
and he promised us he wouldn't hurt himself, but something
at the end forced him to do so. And so
the mental illness, the depression got the better of him
at the end, and he took his own life. And
I know that's going to be a shock to a

(04:45):
lot of people. It was a shock to us. I
had talked to him just days prior and sent text
messages of encouragement, you know, these words from Hemingway to
try to let know that yes, things are dark, but
there will be light. There are people who love you,

(05:06):
we're here to support you. And I don't know they
were just I don't know if there was anything more
we could have done. And it breaks my heart to
know that he felt that there was no other answer. Unfortunately,

(05:29):
does it.

Speaker 1 (05:32):
Anger you a little bit? The irony is not the word,
but the fact that that's the way Hemingway and so
many people in that family met their demise.

Speaker 3 (05:47):
Yes, I mean, of course, full of a lot of
different emotions. I am angry because he promised me. He
promised me he would not do this because we feared
it based on some conversations and we flat out asked him,
and he kept assuring me, I love life, I love
my life. I will not do anything. And so it

(06:12):
was a shock, but probably not a surprise to us
when it happened. But I also think the parallels between
his and Hemingway's life. I think in the back of
his mind probably played a role in that. You know,

(06:32):
Hevyway chastised his father for doing he called him a
coward for doing it. Clarence had had recently been nagnosed,
I believe, with diabetes, and he didn't want to base
all of that that stuff. And Ernest was so angry
with his father for doing that, angry at his mother

(06:53):
for her role and her strong handedness in the family.
And he struggled with that or he would never go
out the way his dad did, and yet he did.
But I feel bad. I know Chris is at peace.
He's probably sitting at a bar with Ernie right now.

Speaker 1 (07:14):
Yeah, with diamonds hopefully too. God rest his soul and
comfort yours. Diana Stanfler promote Michigan, Chris Strubel, who promoted
Michigan and Hemingway right to the end.

Speaker 2 (07:29):
Amen