Jose Luis Castillo-Puche was a young man when he met Ernest Hemingway in Spain during the late 1950s. The two developed an enduring friendship that led Castillo-Puche to become the Spanish authority on the Nobel laureate.
Castillo-Puche wrote the biography, “Hemingway in Spain: A Personal Reminiscence of Hemingway’s Years in Spain by His Friend,” as well as numerous TV and movie screenplays after Earnest committed suicide in 1961.
Born in Yecla, Spain, Castillo-Puche grew up to become a prolific author in his own right. He penned more than a dozen novels and won several awards, including two National Literature Prizes. During the Franco dictatorship, he became a journalist, reporting for the Spanish daily “Ya” and later for “ABC.”
Castillo-Puche died on Feb. 2 from pneumonia. He was 84.