Ernest Hemingway (1899—1961) : one of the best known and most influential American novelists and short-story writers. All his life Hemingway was fascinated by war—in World War I he worked for the Red Cross on the Italian front, in the Spanish Civil War and World War II he served as a war reporter. His experiences and observations provided him with materials and background for many of his best works, in which he concerned himself with mans courage in facing strong physical forces. 'Grace under pressure' was Hemingways definition of courage. In his view, life is painful and complex. The only way to survive is to face what comes with honor, dignity, strength, knowledge and endurance. Hemingways overall message, as established in The Old Man and the Sea ( 1952) , his nearly flawless short novel which gained him the Pulitzer Prize in 1953 and the Nobel Prize in 1954, is that although life is a lonely, losing battle, it is a struggle that a man can dominate in such a way that his loss has dignity and is itself a victory.