1. F. Scott Fitzgerald 1896-1940

2. Born in St. Paul, Minnesota. Named after Francis Scott Key, the author of the national anthem and a distant relative of Fitzgerald’s mother. Family a mixture of old money on his mother’s side and working class on his father’s. 1911-1912 Attended a prep school in New Jersey.

3. 1913 - Entered Princeton University. 1917 - Dropped out to enlist in the Army during WW1. The war ended before he was shipped out. Wrote a novel The Romantic Egoist, but was rejected by publishers.

4. While stationed in Alabama, he met Zelda Sayre. Zelda, a southern debutante from a wealthy family; father a senator, grandfather a judge. Zelda would not marry Fitzgerald unless he showed promise of making some money. Zelda Syre 1900-1948

5. Published his first novel, This Side of Paradise, in 1920. Married Zelda when the novel was sold to Hollywood later in 1920. Scott and Zelda in front of their house.

6. The couple becomes the epitome of the Roaring Twenties: women get the right to vote, prohibition, women’s fashions change, women start attending college. Zelda is considered the original “Flapper.” They have wild parties, are thrown out of speakeasies and respectable clubs. 1921 - Zelda has a baby girl, Scottie.

7. The family moves to Paris, joining the group of American expatriate writers dubbed “The Lost Generation” by Gertrude Stein. 1925 - The Great Gatsby published. Fitzgerald and Hemingway become close.

8. Zelda a bit mad. Decides to be a ballerina in her thirties; takes up writing and dancing. Zelda publishes Save Me The Waltz. Zelda diagnosed schizophrenic and is placed in a sanitorium in Switzerland. Fitzgerald can’t visit but sends her flowers daily. Zelda and Scott Fitzgerald.

9. 1935 - Publishes Tender is the Night. Zelda is in and out of mental institutions. Fitzgerald publishes short stories and works in Hollywood on screenplays. Dies in 1940 of a heart attack. Zelda dies in 1948 in a fire in a mental institution.

10. Fitzgerald said: The mark of a first rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.

11. Flappers