When we arrived on land, the man looked very surprised because there was no civilization there. He said to me, “No American could imagine how isolated this area is.” So I asked him, “Forgive me for asking, but what nationality are you?” He said, “I am American, and I live in Cayo Hueso [Key West].” And I responded, “Very east.” The man asked me, “Do you have any idea how I can leave this place?” I said to him, “Don’t worry, there’s a U.S. Coast Guard boat that passes by every eight hours. I will help you make a signal.” And the man said, “Well, let’s make a plan that after you finish your voyage, let’s meet again to talk. I prefer to meet again in Cuba because I know Cuba.”
So I said, “Let me give you my address.” But the man responded, “I prefer you meet me at Ambos Mundos Hotel in two weeks.”
In two weeks I met him at his hotel. He spoke in very fast and direct Spanish. He said he was building a boat and he needed a captain, but not just anyone. “I want you to be my captain, the guy that saved my life.” And I wasn’t surprised. I said, “OK, I’m going to be your captain.”
This happened in 1935. We worked together for a while, and then World War II began. Hemingway told me he was going to the war, and he wanted me to promise him that I would take care of myself. I said, “Let me tell you something: wherever you go, I’m going with you. And if you die, I die with you. And now there’s no more to say.”
Hemingway asked me, “What is your idea?” And I told him, “We are going to be together, but we need to change our names, because all the Spaniards and Italians and British know your name and that is going to be a problem. You’re going to be ‘Papa’.” That’s how he got that name. And I said, “I’m going to be something Italian, ‘Gregorini’.” And with these names we went to the war [to hunt German submarines off the Cuban coast]. And everything was fine.
He wrote all his books on the boat. He preferred to write on the boat, but he reviewed his writings and made changes at La Terraza restaurant. The movie “The Old Man and the Sea” was filmed here in this area with real fishermen.
Once we went fishing in Peru, and we caught the most enormous fish. It was 1,542 pounds. In 1956 this was a record. A black marlin. It stood in Cuba for 40 years, until 1996, and then they replaced it with a sculpture.
The fisherman was Hemingway. I took care of the boat and Hemingway caught the fish. We were a great team.
He had a big heart for children and old women. He was always giving presents to people. He never invited people on the boat to fish. He invited people on the boat as guests, but when he went to fish, he liked to concentrate only on his fishing.
