Imagine my surprise

I was sitting in a comfy chair at the mall while the wife did whatever she does for what seems like hours in the stores. I was playing with my phone, checking emails, ball scores, the old blog. I played a few games of Euchre with computer opponents and partner. Bored, I clicked on my Kindle app to read a bit. On my China trip I had started a collection of Hemingway short stories. I joined the program already in progress and ran across this passage:

They came to Paris and most of their friends from the boat came back too. They were tired of Dijon and anyway would now be able to say that after leaving Harvard or Columbia or Wabash they had studied at the University of Dijon down in the Cote d'Or. *

Harvard, Columbia and Wabash. Really?  Little Wabash College is an all-male liberal arts college located in Crawfordsville, Indiana. Its total enrollment is about 900. When Hemingway penned this story it was even smaller.  How did a good, but insignificant little college located in the vast hinterlands make it into a story by Ernest Hemingway published in 1925? 

Here is a hint. Look up Ezra Pound. Click the link, I did the research for you.  All you have to do is connect the dots.

What do I know of Wabash College?  That is easy, I graduated from there in 1984.



*Mr. and Mrs. Elliott from The Complete Stories of Ernest Hemingway The Finca Vigia edition 1987