Ernest Hemingway look-alike contest won by Hemingway (no relation)

KEY WEST, Fla. – For the first time in its 36-year history, a Hemingway has won a competition seeking the man who most looks like literary giant Ernest Hemingway.

Dave Hemingway was named the winner of the “Papa” Hemingway Look-Alike Contest on Saturday in Key West, Florida. The winner said he is not related to the late author.

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The contest, which attracted 140 entrants, is the highlight event of the annual Hemingway Days festival that celebrates the author’s legacy. It was held at Sloppy Joe’s Bar, which was a frequent hangout of Hemingway’s during his Key West residency in the 1930s.

Hemingway, who won the contest in his seventh attempt, wore a wool, cream-colored turtleneck sweater similar to what the late author favoured.

“Even though this sweater is really hot, it was part of my strategy,” he said. “And I think it worked really well.”

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Like the author, Dave Hemingway said he likes to fish, to drink a little “and I like women. I like having a good time. I do feel like Ernest because I’m in the town he lived in so many years.”

The husband of celebrity cook Paula Deen – Michael Groover of Savannah, Georgia – finished in the top five for the second straight year. This is the sixth time he has participated in the contest.