F. S COTT F ITZGERALD

B IOGRAPHICAL I NFO. Born in St. Paul, MN Father had claims to an aristocratic family in Maryland Mother was the daughter of a rich Irish immigrant Named after Francis Scott Key ( Star-Spangled Banner ) Spoiled boy Failure at schoolwork and sports Success at daydreaming and writing stories and plays

M ORE B IO. I NFO. Attended Princeton University Left for officers’ training school in 1917 Wished to see action on the battlefields of France but was never sent overseas Stationed at Camp Sheridan in Alabama where he began the novel The Egoist The novel was turned down twice Met Zelda Sayre in Montgomery High spirited and gorgeous Caused scandals Hungered for new experiences Fitzgerald courted her but he didn’t have enough money to offer her the kind of marriage she wanted, so she turned him down

A ND M ORE B IO. I NFO. Once he was out of the army, Fitzgerald took a low-paying job that he hated Sent his novel, which he had rewritten and retitled This Side of Paradise to Scribner’s for the third time Published in 1920 Fitzgerald and Zelda married in April of 1920 Lived in New York and, for a time, in France Wrote The Great Gatsby, his nearly flawless masterpiece Published in 1925 A financial disappointment

T HE L AST OF THE B IO. I NFO. Because of the lifestyle he and Zelda lived, he had to work harder Zelda had a mental breakdown in 1930 Spent the rest of her life in and out of asylums Wrote her own novel, Save Me the Waltz, in 1932 An account of her troubled marriage Fitzgerald wrote Tender Is the Night It was a rebuttal to Zelda’s novel Struggled with mounting debts, failing health, drinking, depression Began writing a novel about a Hollywood producer titled The Last Tycoon In 1940, Fitzgerald died of heart failure while working on the novel