His life and local haunts

F. SCOTT FITZGERALD

The early years in St. PaulFrances Scott Fitzgerald born in St. Paul,

Minn. in 1896

With his mother in 1897 on Laurel Avenue

Fitzgerald’s Birthplace

This apartment

building at 481

Laurel Avenue is

where Scott was

born (10 lb. 6 oz!)

Named for his

distant relative,

Frances Scott Key

The building still

stands today

FamilyHis maternal grandfather, Phillip

McQuillan, was one of St. Paul’s wealthiest businessmen

His father, Edward Fitzgerald, failedas a wicker salesman, and the familymoved to New York until Scott was12, at which point they lived off hismother, Mollie’s, inheritance.

Summit AvenueThe most fashionable street in St. PaulPopulated by the rich and their grand

homesInfluential in Fitzgerald’s perception of

wealth

James J. Hill house onSummit Avenue

Most houses on

this street were

opulent homes of

the wealthy.

Summit Avenue Homes

Frequent moves for the FitzgeraldsOver a span of three years, the Fitzgeralds

lived in three different homes on Holly Avenue, several blocks from Summit Avenue

St. Paul’s Academy 1908-1911While attending this preparatory school,Scott published his first story in the school magazine—a detective tale. He later published three more stories and wrote four plays.

His grades were not impressive, in part because he had poor study habits and was more interested in extra-curricular activities.

Early Social Life

One of Scott’s long-

standing friends was

Marie Hersey, whose

home is above. They

took a dancing class

together, at left. Later,

Scott falls in love with

Marie’s college

roommate, Ginevra

King.

College Years at PrincetonIn 1913, Fitzgerald entered Princeton

UniversityDuring holidays, he returned home to St.

Paul, where he met Ginevra King in 1915A rich girl from Lake Forest,Illinois, Ginevra and Scott carried on a romance mainly through letters. When she finallybroke up with him in 1917, he was devastated.

A move to Summit Avenue, and FAILURE

During Scott’s sophomore year, his parents moved into a three-story brownstone at 593 Summit Ave.

Scott did not apply himself to his studies at Princeton, so when he fell ill with a mild case of tuberculosis his junior year, it was a convenient excuse to drop out of school.

He moved home to live with parents, where he had a room on the third floor. He stayed there for eight months, then returned to Princeton for a short time until war was declared in 1917.

Scott enlisted in the military and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the infantry.

Meeting Zelda SayreScott was

stationed at Camp Sheridan in Alabama, where he met Zelda Sayre, the 18-year old daughter of a State Supreme Court judge

Although Scott and Zelda were from different social classes, they fell in love and were soon engaged.

Shortly before Scott was to be sent overseas to fight, the war ended.

In 1919, after his discharge from the army, Scott moved to New York City to work in advertising and make his fortune so he could marry Zelda.

Unwilling to live on his meager salary, Zelda broke off the engagement.

Disheartened, Scott quit his job and moved back to St. Paul in July 1919.

Zelda at age 18

First novel: This Side of ParadiseFor two months, Scott sequestered himself in a

room on the third floor at 599 Summit Avenue, and rewrote a novel he’d tried to publish the year before

His book was accepted by Scribner’s in mid-September

He wrote a friend,In a house below the average

On a street above the average

In a room below the roof

With a lot above the ears

I shall write Alida Bigelow…

Scribner has accepted my book. Ain’t I smart!

Zelda says yesThe publication of This Side of Paradise on March 26, 1920, made the twenty-four-year-old Fitzgerald famous almost overnight, and a week later he married Zelda Sayre in New York

MARRIED LIFE

Expanding the FamilyWhile living in New

York City, Scott wrote his second novel, The Beautiful and the Damned

1921: Zelda got pregnant and they return to St. Paul for the birth of their daughter, Frances Scott (Scottie) Fitzgerald

A month before Scottie’s birth

While in St. Paul, Scott and Zelda frequented The University Club, a Summit Avenue fixture. Local legend holds that Fitzgerald carved his initials in the basement bar, but this is inaccurate.

Increasing ProblemsFall 1922- family moves to Great Neck,

Long IslandScott’s play is a flop so he writes short

stories to get out of debtHis drinking increases, but he is sober

when he writesZelda drinks but is not an alcoholicDomestic bouts are frequent

Going Abroad

•The Fitzgeralds escaped to France in 1924

•They spent time on the Riviera, where Zelda had an affair with a French aviator

•The Great Gatsby published in 1925 to critical acclaim but disappointing sales

Expatriate Writers in Paris

Hemingway and friends in front of the Shakespeare and Co. bookstore

•Scott and Zelda were part of the Expatriates, a group of young American writers such as Ernest Hemingway who lived in Europe in the 20s

•Hemingway, then known only in literary circles, was friends with Fitzgerald

•The Fitzgeralds remained in France until the end of 1926, when they moved back to the U.S.

•Unsuccessful screenwriting stint in

Hollywood

•1927- Rented a mansion in Delaware, where

they lived for two years

•Zelda begins ballet training

•Spring 1929- return to France

•April 1930- Zelda suffers first mental

breakdown and is treated in Switzerland

over the next year

•The couple spent money faster that Scott

earned it

•Return to U.S. in 1931 to Montgomery,

Alabama

Zelda’s DeteriorationSuffers relapse in February 1932Remains either a resident or outpatient of

“sanatoriums” for the rest of her lifeWhile at mental patient at John Hopkins,

Zelda writes her autobiography, Save Me The Waltz

Scott rents a house outside Baltimore and completes his fourth novel, Tender is the Night

The Crack-Up1936-1937 Scott is

sick, drunk, and in debt

Scottie left for boarding school at age 14

Scott tries to father her through advice in letters

She attended college at Vassar

Final Years in HollywoodIn 1937, Scott returned to Hollywood

alone to work as a screenwriterHis alcoholism continuedFell in love with movie columnist Sheilah

GrahamWas halfway through a novel about

Hollywood, The Love of the Last Tycoon, when he died of a heart attack at Graham’s apartment on December 21, 1940

He was only 44 years old

Final Resting PlaceZelda died in a fire at the asylum in 1948

Both Scott and Zelda were buried in Rockville, Maryland, where Scott’s father was from

Fitzgerald’s grave is frequently visited