July 2, 1961 - Ernest Hemingway was found dead this morning of a shotgun wound to the head at his home in Ketchum, Idaho. The Nobel and Pulitzer Prize-winning author would have been 62 on July 21. His wife stated that Mr. Hemingway, an expert on firearms, killed himself accidentally while cleaning the weapon. Mr. Hemingway's body, clad in a robe and pajamas, was found by Mrs. Hemingway in the foyer of their house. A double-barreled, 12-gauge shotgun lay beside him. Mrs. Hemingway, who has since been hospitalized and is under sedation, said she had been unable to find any note. Marshal Les Jankow, a friend of the author's and the first law officer to reach the scene, said local residents had told him Mr. Hemingway had "looked thinner and acted depressed." Mr. Hemingway's father, Dr. Clarence E. Hemingway, also shot himself to death in 1928.
