A retired 68-year-old Tennessee banker has won Key West’s Hemingway Look-Alike Contest on his eighth attempt.
Joe Maxey of Cedar Hill triumphed Saturday night at Sloppy Joe’s Bar, a hangout of Ernest Hemingway during his Key West residence in the 1930s.
A judging panel of former winners chose Maxey from 142 white-bearded contenders who competed in two preliminary rounds and Saturday’s finals.
Maxey said he loves Hemingway’s writing and shares the author’s fondness for mojitos and women.
During his Key West years, Hemingway penned literary classics including “For Whom the Bell Tolls” and “To Have and Have Not.”
The contest is a highlight of the annual Hemingway Days festival that honors the author’s literary legacy and adventurous lifestyle. The celebration ends Sunday, the 120th anniversary of his birth.
