Rare Hemingway, Dietrich Letters Set to Go Public

Literary legend Ernest Hemingway wasn't just writing novels and poetry when he went into seclusion during his prime. According to letters that have turned up in the last week, he carried a long-held affection for German singer and star Marlene Dietrich with him as the pair carried on a nearly 30 year relationship.

Long standing debate about the details of their relationship has stood and now there is much more evidence to fuel the fire behind assertions that their affair was serious. In the letters, the pair exchanged pet names for each other. Hemingway called the musician "The Kraut", while the lady returned the favor by calling Hemingway "Papa".

The uncovered letters are soon to be put on display in a Boston museum as a part of American literary history. For at least ten years, the couple managed to keep them highly secret, though. This batch of letters was sent from Hemingway to Dietrich between 1949 and 1959. Most were typewritten and each described perfectly the inner workings of the couple's complicated relationship.

Hemingway's poetic words seem to indicate quite a fondness for the singer. In a 1950 letter from Cuba, Hemingway writes, "What do you really want to do for a life work? Break everybody's heart for a dime? You could always break mine for a nickel and I'd bring the nickel."

These letters just came to the public in the last week, but they were discovered four years ago. Dietrich's daughter, Maria Riva, gave the letters to John F. Kennedy Library and Museum with the stipulation that the Library not go public with the letters until now.

The letters, cables, and bits of poetry are important in establishing a link between the two. Previously, letters written from Dietrich to Hemingway had been discovered. This creates a distinctive link between the two and adds fuel to the fire of though that links them romantically.

"Like an incredible discovery of fossils for archaeologists, these letters are a treasure trove for Hemingway scholars. They show Hemingway both as a writer, but they also show him as a husband, as a father and a friend," library director Tom Putnam said of the works.

Hemingway and Dietrich's relationship began in 1934, when they met on a cruise ship. Though many of the letters would seem to suggest that the pair was romantically involved, Dietrich family members deny that claim. In their eyes, the two highly talented people were on a crash course of friendship; a road that nourished both of their souls.

Dietrich's 1952 letter to Hemingway would seem to reject the family's thought, though. In that correspondence, she wrote, "I want to put my arms around you and my heart. I want to kiss you forever and a day for the beauty that is in you ... I can't love you more than I do or deeper or longer."

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