F. Scott Fitzgerald

1
F. Scott Fitzgerald

• 1896 - 1940

2
Young F. Scott

• Born September 24, 1896 in St. Paul, Minnesota
• (Given name Frances Scott Key Fitzgerald,
  after the writer of the American National Anthem
  to whom he was distantly related.)
• Father was a failed aristocrat mother came from
  an Irish immigrant family who became quite
  wealthy in America by owning General Stores.
  (Catholic)
• 1908-1910 Attended St. Paul Academy
• First writing appeared in the school newspaper
  a detective story
• 1911-1913 Newman School Catholic Prep. School

3
A Life Begins

• 1913-1917 Attended Princeton University
• - joined the Triangle Dramatics Club
• - wrote for the Princeton Literary Magazines
• 1917 Placed on academic probation for flunking
  an entire semester, chances of graduating are
  dashed
• 1917 Entered the Army and was given a
  commissioning as a 2nd LT in the infantry (World
  War I).
• 1918 Stationed near Montgomery, Alabama
• - met Zelda Sayre (daughter of a state
• Supreme Court Justice)
• - became engaged, unable to marry
• because of financial restraints

4
A Writer Emerges

• 1919 Moves to New York to seek his fortune as a
  writer so he and Zelda could marry.
• He fails Zelda (with much encouragement from her
  father) breaks off the engagement.
• Spring 1920 Publishes This Side of Paradise
  an instant financial success.
• He and Zelda are married a week later.
• The couple move to a NY apartment while
  Fitzgerald writes for The Saturday Evening Post
  where he was paid very well as a Post Writer.
  (Highest salary earned 4,000/story)

5
A Family Started

• 1921 Zelda becomes pregnant, they travel to
  Europe briefly
• October 1921 daughter, Frances Scott Fitzgerald
  (Scottie), was born in St. Paul, Minnesota
• 1923 Wrote and produced a failure of a play,
  but was able to get out of debt by writing short
  stories
• - During this time Fitzgeralds drinking begins
  to increase and affect his family and his career

6
Art Reflects Life

• 1924-1926 Seeking tranquility, the family moves
  to France
• While in France, Zelda has an affair with a
  French aviator.
• Fitzgerald meets Ernest Hemmingway (a well-known
  drinker/womanizer) and is brought into the fold
  of the expatriates, a group of American artists
  and writers living in Europe in the 1920s.
• Here, Fitzgerald writes The Great Gatsby,
• which is a financial disappointment.
• However, stag e movie rights made up
• for the low sales.
• Zeldas behavior becomes more erratic.

7
A Family Dissolves

• 1927 Family returns to America to seek solace
  from the distractions of Europe.
• Zelda continues to become more and more
  unconventional example Zelda begins taking
  ballet lessons.
• 1929 While spending some more time in France,
  Zeldas health is damaged by her intense ballet
  training. This adds to the couples
  estrangement.
• 1930 Back in America, Zelda suffers from her
  first breakdown.
• She is treated in a hospital in Switzerland.
  Zelda will live in and out of hospitals for the
  rest of her life.
• Fitzgerald once again resorts to selling short
  stories to pay debts and hospital bills.

8
The Crack Up Years

• 1936-1937 The Crack Up Years(named so for an
  essay he wrote at that time).
• Zelda moved to a Baltimore hospital (sanitarium).
• Fitzgerald was drinking heavily and living in and
  out of hotels.
• Scottie is sent to boarding school because of the
  unstable home situation.
• 1937 Fitzgerald gets a writing contract with
  MGM studios for 1,000 a week. Salary increased
  to 1,250 a week in 1938, which enabled him to
  pay off his debts.
• 1939 Contract with MGM cancelled no savings.

9
The End of an Era

• 1939 Fitzgerald begins dating and living with
  Sarah Graham (a wardrobe artist for MGM) he does
  not divorce Zelda who is still living in the
  hospital in Baltimore.
• December 21, 1940 Fitzgerald dies of a heart
  attack a girlfriends house.
• 1948 Zelda dies in a fire at the Highland
  Hospital in Baltimore.