FRANCIS SCOTT KEY FITZGERALD By Jessica Collins

EARLY LIFE  Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald was born in St. Paul, Minnesota on September 24,  His father, Edward, was from Maryland and had an allegiance to the old south and their values.  His mother, Mary, was the daughter of a wealthy Irish immigrant.

EARLY LIFE  When his father failed as a wicker furniture maker in Minnesota, the family moved to New York where he became a salesman.  At the age of twelve, Fitzgerald and his family moved back to Minnesota and they lived on his mother’s inheritance.  He attended St. Paul academy where his first story was published in the school newspaper.

EARLY LIFE  During his high school years, he attended a Catholic prep school.  Here he met Father Sigourney Fay, a man who encouraged him to accomplish his goals.  Fitzgerald then attended Princeton, but spent too much time writing for magazines instead of paying attention to his studies.  When it was clear he would not graduate, Fitzgerald left and joined the army.

CAREER  While in the army, Fitzgerald wrote a novel called, The Romantic Egotist.  Although the novel was originally rejected, the company loved its originality and asked it be resubmitted when revised.  In 1918, he was stationed in Alabama.  There he met Zelda Sayre, the daughter of an Alabama Supreme Court judge.

CAREER  The romance encouraged Fitzgerald to resubmit his novel, but was rejected once again.  He moved to New York to make money to marry Zelda, but she grew tired of waiting and broke off the engagement.  In 1919, Fitzgerald moved back to St. Paul and rewrote his novel as This side of Paradise.  This time, the novel was accepted by editor Maxwell Perkins.

CAREER  This Side of Paradise made Fitzgerald known, and a week later he married Zelda.  The Fitzgerald loved their life as celebrities and moved to an apartment in New York.  There he began his second novel, The Beautiful and Damned.  When his wife became pregnant, they moved back to St. Paul and their only child was born.

CAREER  Fitzgerald wrote the play, The Vegetable, and in the fall of 1922, they moved to Long Island in order to be closer to Broadway.  Fitzgerald attempted a story, From President to Postman, in 1923, but it failed.  He then began to write short stories in order to get out of debt.  Frustrated by the difficulty of writing his third novel, Fitzgerald turned to drinking.

CAREER  Fitzgerald’s drinking habits left him a bad reputation and not respected by many, although he always wrote sober.  He became identified with the Jazz Age and expressed his feeling towards it in Echoes of the Jazz Age, calling it, “an age of miracles.”  In 1924, the family moved to France where Fitzgerald wrote The Great Gatsby.  While in France, Zelda became involved with a French naval aviator.

CAREER  The winter of was spent in Rome revising The Great Gatsby.  The novel was then published in April and the novel received critical praise, but the sales were disappointing.  Fitzgerald began his fourth novel, constantly changing the titles and putting it on hold.  The Fitzgerald’s moved to Hollywood as Frances attempted screen play writing, but then moved to Delaware.

CAREER  While at Delaware, Fitzgerald was still unable to make significant progress on his novel.  In 1929 then couple then moved back to France so Zelda could become a ballet dancer, but the dancing damaged her health and led her to a breakdown.  She was treated at Prangins Clinic in Switzerland while Fitzgerald stayed in Swiss hotels.

CAREER  Again, Fitzgerald’s novel was pushed back as he began writing short stories again to pay for the psychiatric treatment for his wife.  In 1931 the family moved to Montgomery.  Fitzgerald made one more unsuccessful trip to Hollywood.  Zelda had a relapse and spent the rest of her life as a resident or outpatient of sanitariums.

CAREER  In 1932 as a patient, Zelda wrote Save Me the Waltz.  Fitzgerald claimed she took material from his novel he was in the progress of writing and it created bitterness between the two.  Fitzgerald finally completed his fourth novel, Tender is the Night, and it was published in  were back years for Fitzgerald and he was not able to keep his daughter Scottie

CAREER  When she was fourteen she went to boarding school and the Obers became her surrogate family.  In 1937, Fitzgerald left for Hollywood where he had a six month contract for writing screen plays.  His contract was renewed for a year and he was able to pay off most of his debts.  In California, he fell in love with a columnist, Sheilah Graham.

CAREER  In 1938 he was dropped as a screen writer and he worked as a freelance script writer and wrote short stories for the Enquire.  Fitzgerald began his final novel in 1939 titled, The Love of the Last Tycoon.  Fitzgerald has half of a working draft done when he died of a heart attack in Sheilah’s apartment.  Zelda died eight years later in a hospital fire.