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Powerpoint about author F. Scott Fitzgerald's life with an emphasis on his homes and childhood in St. Paul, Minnesota.
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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
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