Ezra and Ernest.

Due to the panel presentation, I was eager to research relationships and influences between Ezra Pound and Ernest Hemingway. What I came across was a letter, read here by Yale University, from Hemingway to Pound and his wife. The former had broken his arm and several fingers, and the fact that he persisted to write despite his handicap speaks volumes about his affections for his poet friend. In the letter itself, Hemingway says he's rather sore that Pound still hasn't won a Nobel Prize for his work, and such praise is not lightly said. It hints at a deeper and perhaps reverential appreciation for Pound's work. Human nature strives to imitate what it respects, and I think that case can be applicable in this case.

It will certainly be difficult to ascertain how deep that influence is, but one thing is clear: Pound admired Hemingway's boxing talents, and asked him to teach him. In return, Hemingway would later joke that Pound taught him how to write. While probably spoken in jest, this nevertheless confirms the fact that the two men shared writing tips. Whether this influence was mutual or just one-sided, I am unable to answer for. But I think this really strengthens the idea of the "Lost Generation" for all these writers and artists bond together in reaction the war and ideas of an antiquated century. It's their obvious friendship that has survived in each others' works that strike me as the most remarkable production of this talented generation.