Ernest Hemingway Sculpture

Called “The Old Man and the Cat,” this bronze sculpture by George Lundeen was unveiled over Labor Day weekend 2021 to honor Ernest Hemingway, Walloon Lake’s most famous summer resident.

Hemingway’s parents, Clarence and Grace Hemingway, began coming to this area from their Oak Park, Illinois home in the late 1890s. After traveling by steamer and a series of trains, they boarded a steam launch for the final leg to their Windemere cottage on the North Shore. Ernest would come back to this area every summer for 22 years, before getting married and heading out into the world to become a noted journalist and author.

Next to this sculpture is an historical sign which tells the Hemingway story, and complements a Michigan Historical Marker across M-75 erected in Melrose Township Park.

The Michigan Hemingway Society is also adding this site to its self-guided Michigan Hemingway Tour, which includes historic structures and locales in Horton Bay, Petoskey, and Kalkaska.