STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK

J. Michael Moriarty will read from his new book “Hemingway’s Retreat” via a Zoom presentation presented by the Hailey Public Library at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, April 29.

The book is an imaginative account of what would have happened if the famous writer had faked his own death.

You heard right. In Moriarty’s book, Hemingway ponders whether he should live or die and makes a decision to choose both.

He pulls off the deception with help from his friend President John F. Kennedy, abandoning America for life in an Irish castle where he meets all the greats, including Nobel laureate Seamus Heaney, takes in days of horse racing and hunts with the iconic White Heather Harriers.

Moriarty is a trial lawyer from Omaha, Neb., a former investigative reporter and a regular visitor to the Wood River Valley. For years he visited Hemingway’s grave in the Ketchum cemetery, which led him to begin wondering what might have happened if Hemingway had lived.

“As the new Ken Burns documentary about Ernest Hemingway has clearly shown, people are still fascinated by the complex life and tragic death of this famous writer and Wood River Valley resident,” commented Kristin Fletcher, the library’s programs and community engagement coordinator. “Michael Moriarty wondered how Hemingway’s life might have turned out had he lived and will share ‘the rest of the story’ with us.” 

 To learn “the rest of the story,” RSVP to kristin.fletcher@haileypubliclibrary.org.