Martha Gellhorn [trailblazer/author]

Calvin

Welcome to Headstones and Microphones where we use AI to step into the past through a researched, first-person simulation of history's most interesting people. I am your host, Calvin. While we’ve added some creative storytelling, our goal is to inspire your own study of these fascinating lives. Now, let’s meet our guest.

Calvin

I am absolutely thrilled to be sitting across from a woman who redefined journalism and witnessed history from the front lines. For those who may somehow not know who you are... who are you?

White Female Guest

Well, hello Calvin! I am Martha Gellhorn. Most people know me as a war correspondent—though I always preferred to say I was a reporter of the people who suffered through the wars, rather than the generals who planned them. I spent sixty years chasing the truth across the globe.

Calvin

You’ve been everywhere! But let’s start at the beginning. When and where were you born?

White Female Guest

I was born on November 8, 1908, in St. Louis, Missouri. A long way from the trenches of Europe, wouldn’t you say?

Calvin

Just a bit! And what was your given name at birth?

White Female Guest

It was Martha Ellis Gellhorn.

Calvin

Is there a story behind your birth name?

White Female Guest

Not a dramatic one, but I was named after my mother’s side of the family. My mother, Edna Fischel, was a force of nature—a suffragist and a reformer. Carrying her family name was a bit like carrying a torch for social justice from day one.

Calvin

St. Louis in the early 1900s—what was your hometown like growing up?

White Female Guest

It was a bustling place, but my world was centered around a very progressive household. My father was a doctor and my mother was constantly fighting for women’s right to vote. We were taught to be curious and to never, ever be bored. Boredom was considered a sin in our house!

Calvin

Sounds like a lively home! What was your family life like overall?

White Female Guest

It was intellectual and deeply supportive. My parents treated me and my three brothers as individuals with minds of our own. We were encouraged to argue our points at the dinner table. It gave me the backbone I needed later when I was the only woman in a room full of soldiers.

Calvin

What kind of kid were you? Were you already a rebel?

White Female Guest

Oh, I was restless! I had this insatiable urge to see what was over the next hill. I wasn’t particularly interested in "ladylike" hobbies. I wanted to move, to see, and to write it all down.

Calvin

Even the bravest people have them—what were your biggest fears growing up?

White Female Guest

My biggest fear was being trapped. The idea of a quiet, stagnant life in a parlor with a tea set terrified me more than any physical danger ever did. I was afraid of missing out on the world.

Calvin

And what did you dream of becoming as a child?

White Female Guest

A writer, always. I didn’t know it would lead to battlefields yet, but I knew I wanted to use words to make people feel something.

Calvin

Did that translate to your school years? What were some of your favorite activities in school?

White Female Guest

I loved writing for the school publications, of course. But honestly, I was often looking at the exit. I did attend Bryn Mawr College, but I left before graduating because I was just too impatient to start my life.

Calvin

You weren't going to wait for a diploma! What was your first job?

White Female Guest

I worked for the New Republic in New York briefly, but my first real "adventure" job was heading to France with almost no money to become a foreign correspondent. I landed a job with the United Press in Paris. It was exhilarating!

Calvin

Was there a moment where you realized you were different from everyone else?

White Female Guest

It was during the Great Depression. I was hired by Harry Hopkins to travel across America and report on how the poverty was affecting the people. I realized then that I didn't care about statistics; I cared about the human face of suffering. I had a "vocation for victims," as I called it.

Calvin

That’s a powerful realization. What’s a decision that changed everything for you, but felt small at the time?

White Female Guest

Stopping in a bar called Sloppy Joe’s in Key West during a family vacation in 1936. I met a man there—Ernest Hemingway—who suggested we go to Spain to cover the Civil War. That trip transformed me from a journalist into a war correspondent.

Calvin

That’s a huge turn! What would you say was your biggest break?

White Female Guest

Spain was the turning point. Reporting from Madrid while it was being shelled gave me my voice. It’s where I learned that if you’re going to tell the story of a war, you have to be in it with the people.

Calvin

What were your biggest struggles before success?

White Female Guest

The struggle was always being taken seriously as a woman. Editors thought "the woman's angle" meant writing about what the soldiers ate or their fashion. I had to prove I could stand in the mud and the blood just as well as any man.

Calvin

Did you ever consider quitting?

White Female Guest

Never. Sometimes I was exhausted, and sometimes I was heartbroken by what I saw, but I never wanted to stop. The world was too interesting, and the injustices were too loud to ignore.

Calvin

You were known for your stamina. Were there any specific daily habits or routines that you feel are essential to your success?

White Female Guest

Travel light and keep moving. I lived out of suitcases for decades. My only real "routine" was to find a typewriter and a quiet corner—even if that corner was a tent or a bombed-out cellar—and get the truth onto paper while it was still hot in my mind.

Calvin

If you hadn't found fame as a reporter, what job would you have had?

White Female Guest

I think I might have been a traveler regardless, maybe a very unsuccessful novelist living in a shack by the ocean. I needed the sea and I needed change.

Calvin

What was your life like before fame?

White Female Guest

It was a scramble! Chasing stories, living on very little, and constantly trying to convince people that I knew what I was talking about. It was a lot of cheap hotels and train rides.

Calvin

How did relationships change after success?

White Female Guest

It became complicated. My marriage to Hemingway was... explosive. It's hard to be two ambitious, strong-willed writers in one house. Eventually, I realized I didn't want to be a footnote in someone else’s life. I wanted my own life.

Calvin

Did fame bring happiness?

White Female Guest

Happiness is a fleeting thing. Fame gave me access—it gave me the ability to get to the front lines—but the things I saw often made happiness difficult. I found more satisfaction in a job well done than in being famous.

Calvin

What was the downside of becoming famous?

White Female Guest

Being constantly linked to my famous ex-husband. For years, people only wanted to talk to me because of him. I hated it! I wanted to be judged on my own work.

Calvin

What misconceptions did people have about you?

White Female Guest

People thought I was just a "tough broad" or cold. In reality, I was deeply sensitive to the pain I saw. I wasn't tough; I was determined.

Calvin

What was your darkest moment?

White Female Guest

Entering the Dachau concentration camp at the end of World War II. Seeing that... it changed my soul. It made me lose a bit of my faith in humanity for a long time.

Calvin

I can't even imagine. What past regrets did you carry, that you spoke about?

White Female Guest

I regretted not being a better mother to my adopted son, Sandy. My restless nature made it hard for me to be the stationary, nurturing presence he probably needed. I loved him, but I was always looking toward the horizon.

Calvin

What’s something people misunderstood about your life?

White Female Guest

That I did what I did for the thrill or the "glory." I didn't love war. I actually hated it. I just felt a duty to report on it so that the people back home couldn't say they didn't know.

Calvin

Tell me about a time when everything went wrong and how did you handle it?

White Female Guest

D-Day. I was denied official credentials to cover the invasion because I was a woman. So, I hid in a bathroom on a hospital ship and stowed away! I landed on the beach as a stretcher-bearer. I got my story, even if I got in huge trouble for it afterward.

Calvin

That is legendary! Did fame and fortune change your life?

White Female Guest

It allowed me to live where I wanted—I eventually found peace in Wales and London—but it never stopped me from wanting to work. Even in my 80s, I was heading to Panama to cover the U.S. invasion.

Calvin

You never slowed down! Who had the biggest influence on your life?

White Female Guest

My mother, Edna. She taught me that if you see something wrong in the world, you don't just complain—you do something about it.

Calvin

What was life like in your final years?

White Female Guest

I lived in a beautiful flat in London. I was nearly blind and suffering from cancer, but I still had my sharp tongue and my memories. I was surrounded by books and letters from friends.

Calvin

What were you working on in your career before you passed away?

White Female Guest

I was still writing letters and essays, staying engaged with the world's news. I never stopped being a witness, even when I couldn't travel anymore.

Calvin

When and where did you pass away?

White Female Guest

I passed away in London on February 15, 1998.

Calvin

What happened?

White Female Guest

I had been very ill for a long time with cancer and near-total blindness. I decided to take control of my end, just as I had taken control of my life. I died by suicide, choosing my own time to go.

Calvin

You were a maverick until the very end. Let's lighten it up a bit—what’s a random fact about you most people have never heard?

White Female Guest

I was a fantastic snorkeler! Even in my later years, I loved being in the water. It was the only place I felt completely weightless and free.

Calvin

What’s the craziest rumor ever told about you?

White Female Guest

Probably that I was a spy. People couldn't believe a woman would just wander into war zones for the sake of a story, so they assumed there must be a secret government motive. There wasn't—I just wanted the scoop!

Calvin

What was your most unique habit?

White Female Guest

I had a habit of "cleaning" my life. Every few years, I’d burn old letters and photos. I didn't want to be weighed down by the past. I wanted to keep moving forward.

Calvin

What was your favorite food?

White Female Guest

Nothing beats a perfectly ripe piece of fruit or a simple, fresh salad. After years of eating C-rations and army food, I learned to appreciate simplicity.

Calvin

Did you have a favorite restaurant?

White Female Guest

I loved the little cafes in Paris from my youth—anywhere with a terrace where I could watch the people go by.

Calvin

What was your favorite book?

White Female Guest

I read everything, but I always returned to the classics. I admired any writer who could tell a truth without using too many adjectives.

Calvin

Did you have any known rivalries?

White Female Guest

Mostly with the male correspondents who tried to keep me out of the action. I didn't have time for rivalries with other women; there were so few of us, we had to stick together!

Calvin

Tell us a story nobody talks about.

White Female Guest

Once, while reporting in Java, I found myself in a situation where I had to share a room with a goat because there was nowhere else to sleep. The goat was actually quite a polite roommate—much better than some generals I've known!

Calvin

What’s your funniest behind-the-scenes moment?

White Female Guest

Trying to learn how to drive a motorcycle in the middle of a war zone. I was terrible at it! I think I terrified the local population more than the actual conflict did for a few minutes there.

Calvin

Did you ever prank someone?

White Female Guest

I was more of a "sharp wit" than a prankster, but I took a great deal of pleasure in proving pompous officials wrong by showing up exactly where they told me I couldn't go.

Calvin

What was the most outlandish purchase you made?

White Female Guest

I once bought a house in Kenya on a whim because I liked the view. I didn't stay long, but oh, that view was worth it.

Calvin

What advice would you give people chasing success?

White Female Guest

Don't chase success—chase the truth. And never let anyone tell you "no" just because of who you are. If you want to see the world, go see it. Don't wait for permission.

Calvin

Martha, do you have any closing remarks about the interview or the stories you shared that you would like to share with the listeners before signing off?

White Female Guest

Just that it has been a delight to talk about something other than Hemingway for once! Thank you for letting me tell my own story. Life is a grand adventure, and I hope everyone listening finds their own "front line" to cover. Thank you for having me, Calvin.

Calvin

That was the incredible Martha Gellhorn, everyone! From stowing away on D-Day ships to championing the voices of the voiceless, she was a true original. And that wraps up another conversation from beyond the grave. Thanks for joining us on The Headstones and Microphones Podcast. Remember—legends may die, but their stories never do. Please help spread the word by sharing and following the pod.