I will freely admit that I am neither a Bogart nor a Bacall fan but the fact that their
nuptials took place in Ohio is fascinating to me. It's strange yet charming to imagine these two movie stars in their glitzy heyday getting married on a farm very near to where I grew up in a most unobtrusive part of the Midwest. The farm in question is
Malabar Farm, which was established by Bogart's long-time friend and Pulitzer Prize winning novelist
Louis Bromfield. After establishing himself as a writer in NYC and spending a decade in France with his family, the
Renaissance Man Bromfield decided to return to his native Ohio to set up a farm implementing sustainable farming practices.
Bromfield has since come to be recognized as a pioneer in organic and sustainable farming in the United States. He was awarded the Audubon Medal for Conservationism in 1952 and in 1980 was posthumously inducted into the Ohio Agricultural Hall of Fame.
"Ohio is the apothesis of Americanism. The middle west begins with Indiana, the east with Pennsylvania, the south with Kentucky, and, surrounded by these sits Ohio, one of the richest spots on earth. Its contribution to music, art, literature and the theatre is far greater than any two states in the nation."
—Louis Bromfield
"We eked out every last drop of Midwestern air and sky— of farm and cooking smells—boxer dogs." -- Lauren Bacall
Bogie and Bacall, 65 years later in Ohio
To Have and Have Not: Vanity Fair article with Bacall
Newsreel of Bromfield and Malabar Farm
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