Gregorio Fuentes, an old sea partner of Ernest Hemingway, has turned 100 years old without paying too much reverence to time, as if he were sure that both his soul and his myth were destined to be immortal.

He retains his conclusive way of talking, almost biblical loners have. He gets excited with his own anecdotes, to which he adds color, but sometimes his flow of words lapses, he remains silent; then, the conversation turns diffi­cult, monosyllabic, as if trying to forget something. His long answers full of details, that very often sweeten his friend's myth, have as much value as his moments of silence and denials. For discretion he seldom prefers, too, to stay quiet or rather hides himself behind unexpected words and frugalities. - Are you often asked to speak about Hemingway? - I understand I'm the only person in the world who knows and can tell who that man was. Only me knew him well. I say few men on earth were like him: humane, generous, with a kind heart. He helped others to survive and respected their rights as I've seen no one do it. - Sometimes you don't like to talk much about those memories, do you? - I don't like to remember those times, they all come to my mind at once. Nobody wants to remember someone who's dead and was a dear friend, or just like a father. To tell you the truth, I don't like to remember. - How did you two meet each other? - We met on the sea. He's boat had run out of fuel. It was drifting. He made signals asking me to pick him up. The weather was rough. I towed him up north to Florida, to a place that despite being an American he didn't know about. A place 75 miles from Key West where he had a house. He went happily crazy. When We got there, I took him to a long-distance phone for emergencies. "The Cuban knows", he told me. "If you are a sailor, you must know everything", I replied. Then, we became good friends. - What did you teach Hemingway? - About life? I never taught him anything. I never meddle with his personal life. But from the sea, a lot of things. I taught him where the good fish were, how to get there, the seas he had to navigate. That was the only thing, and he was always pleased. - And Hemingway, what did he teach you? - He had nothing to teach me. - Did you envy his life? - No, never. - How did you come to the Caribbean? - I was six years old and I had to struggle to survive. My father was a sailor. He used to tell me that I had to learn how to read and write, but I replied that it was better if I learned first his skill. We left for Cuba, but he died on the voyage. A man from the Canary Island, whom I recognized from his accent, helped me when I told him what had happened. Ever since I've worked with boats. In 1926 I got married and set up a home. I've always lived by the sea. The trade of a sailor will never stop existing in the world, never. - Does the Hemingway the media make is the same to the real Hemingway? - In many things yes, in others no. - In which way they are not the same? - I don't like to talk about that. I wonder why there are people who do not realize who that man was. He was a person with a kind heart. He was a man for everybody: the children, the poor, the life-bitten women. He respected all and had a gift for everyone. I was his cook, his sailor, his boat's skipper and partner. In the things he could help me, he helped me. I always try to please him. I was everything for him and he was everything for me. - Would you have risked your life for him? - I used to tell him: where you go, I go; and if you die, I die, too. - Did he tell you about his private life? - Nothing. He only told me about the books he was writing. Once he told me he was preparing one about us. He asked me to go to keys and small islands. We did and he wrote then Islands in the Gulf. - Is it true, too, that you saw the struggle between a fisherman and a huge needle fish that later inspired The Old Man and the Sea? - Of course. We asked him if he needed any help and he answered back: "Go to hell, American." We left him some softdrinks and food. Papa had a kind heart. - Have you read Hemingway's books? - I don't need to do it to know what they are about. - Did he give them to you as gifts? - Of course!! - Have you seen the movies based on his books? - No. - Did you speak about politics? - We never spoke about politics. I looked, watched and kept quiet. - Did he make any comment with you about his meeting with Fidel (Castro)? - Never, we never talked about that. - Do you remember how he told you the news about the Nobel Prize? - I was on the Pilar, fixing something, who knows either the engine or the fuel tank, and he arrived and told me: "Look, we have money. You also have the right to it". - Did he tell you about his childhood? - Nothing. - About his parents? - Nothing. - About women? - Well, some adventures as a man. - Did you drink together on the boat? - The same drink, whisky. He held the compass while I went for the "sips". One for you and one for me, I said. In those moments he stirred the boat as if he were me. - How was he when he got angry? - I never saw him angry at me, nor at anybody else. He was always in good humor with me. It was a peaceful relation. We were like brothers. - Did you know you were saying good bye the last time you met? - I knew he was sick. He told me: “Take care as you have always done. Look well after my Pilar as you have always done.”. - Did he tell you he was sick? - I knew from the doctors. I knew he couldn't escape from the illness. The doctors even warned he would killed himself, he had it deep in his mind. He knew what the disease was capable of. I always thought he would kill himself any day. - Do you remember any other illness of him? - His problem was leukemia. It was all he had. I did not notice any nerve problem, but I felt when he complained of his pain. - Is it true that he had 200 scars? - That's not true. I only remember that he had a strong body build. - And his hand, what were they like? - Just like the hands of a strong man. - What were Hemingway's eyes like? - (A long silence) I can't tell. I don't remember what they were like. - Were you surprised by the news of his death? - No. - Did he talk about suicide in the last times you met? - In the last times, yes. In the good times, no. - Did he leave anything to tell you? - No. We said everything. - Do you think Hemingway would approve to having the Pilar at Finca Vigia? - Sure. He left it to me to take care of it as I took care of it, and I feel I did the right thing. The best place for his yacht was his house. I come to see it every now and then. If I could, I would see it everyday. - Is the house like it was then? - Everything is well kept there. - After turning 100 years, what do you expect? - Death, just like every body this age. - Do you fear...? - I have no fear. - ... Fear to lose your memory? - Not even to lose my memory. - Have you accomplished the mission of your life? - I don't think about that, nor in the years I'll live. - What do you toast for in your birthdays? - I only thank everyone and feel they are my friends. - Is the image you have of Hemingway that of a loner, a man centered in his life, distant? - Yes, it's true. That's the way I always remember him and I admire him. - Do you think that if he had not been ill, he would have left Cuba? - No, never. - Do you still dream with Ernest Hemingway? - I have him in my soul.