Krebs Friend
Krebs Friend was an American writer and a prominent figure in the early 20th-century literary scene, born in 1896. His life was notably shaped by his experiences as a soldier in World War I, which left him shell-shocked. This trauma influenced his interactions with other writers, most notably Ernest Hemingway, who drew inspiration from Friend for his 1925 short story "Soldier's Home," even naming the protagonist after him. In 1924, Friend married Henrietta, a wealthy heiress significantly older than him, which allowed him to support literary projects, including the Transatlantic Review, where he served as president for a brief period.
During his time in Paris between the World Wars, Friend contributed satirical articles to the Transatlantic Review and wrote fiction, including an exaggerated account of a wild-boar hunt that inspired Hemingway's own work. Despite producing two poetry collections, Friend's literary efforts remained largely unrecognized. He returned to military service in World War II as part of the Seabees but was discharged early, possibly due to lingering emotional effects from his first war. He eventually settled in Connecticut, where he lived until his passing in 1967, leaving behind a modest legacy as a writer.
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Krebs Friend
Writer
- Born: 1896
- Died: 1967
Biography
Harold Krebs Friend, who went by his middle name throughout his life, was born in 1896. Shell-shocked after service in World War I, Friend came into contact with Ernest Hemingway in 1920 when they were both briefly on the staff of Cooperative Commonwealth. Hemingway would later use Friend as inspiration for his 1925 short story, “Soldier’s Home,” and he even used Friend’s first two names to name his protagonist. In 1924, Krebs Friend wed a wealthy heiress named Henrietta who was at least forty years his senior. At Hemingway’s suggestion, Friend used his new affluence to bankroll Ford Madox Ford’s Transatlantic Review, a doomed publication of which Friend was president of until its demise a year later. Like many other intellectuals, Friend lived in Paris between World Wars I and II, and during this time he wrote as a satirical pieces on life in the United States for the Transatlantic Review as well as a sensational, fictitious account of a wild-boar hunt that was used as the literary basis for an article by Hemingway in the Toronto Star Weekly. In addition to his writings for his own paper, Krebs Friend also published two poetry collections of free verse that were largely ignored and unsuccessful. Friend heeded his country’s call to arms a second time in World War II as a Seabee assigned to the Twenty-sixth Naval Construction Battalion in Kodiak, Alaska. Following an early discharge (perhaps stemming from emotional trauma incurred in the previous war), Friend moved to Connecticut, where he spent the remainder of his life. He passed away in 1967 having published only a small body of work.