The L.C.Bates Museum will present a free illustrated talk by Hemingway scholar Susan F. Beegel, Voyage To Earnest Hemingway’s “The Old Man and the Sea” at 7 p.m. Wednesday, June 29.

Participants can learn how Hemingway’s lifelong passion for fishing and marine creatures of the Gulf Stream led to his prize winning novel “Old Man and the Sea.” Beegel’s talk will also examine the marine life in Hemingway’s book and the history of the Museum’s marlin.

Prior to the talk, at 6 p.m., participants can visit the museum to see the 12-foot long Blue Marlin, caught in 1935 in Bimini by Hemingway, was mounted by the well-known taxidermist Fred C. N. Parke of Bangor, and recently preserved by conservator Ron Harvey of Tuckerbrook Conservation. There will be a family/children’s hunt through the exhibitions for marine life in Hemingway’s book, from terns to sea turtles.

The conservator will explain his process for preserving the marlin and the historic taxidermy methods used by its taxidermist Parke at 2 p.m. Monday, June 27. The marlin is being preserved through support from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

For more information, call 238-4250 or email [email protected].