Literary Giants - Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald

Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald was born on September 24, 1896, in St. Paul, Minnesota. His parents, Edward Fitzgerald and Mollie McQuillan were middle class Irish Catholics. He went by Scott, the first of his two middle names. He was named after his famous uncle, Francis Scott Key who wrote the words to the US anthem, The Star Spangled Banner. The family spent time in Syracuse and Buffalo, New York but returned to St. Paul in 1908.

He attended St. Paul Academy until 1911. His first writing effort, a detective story, was published in the school newspaper when he was 12. He moved to Newman School in Hackensack, New Jersey until 1913 when he entered Princeton University. He wrote for the Princeton Triangle Club which was a kind of musical-comedy society. He submitted his first novel, and while the editor praised the writing, it was rejected. Fitzgerald was a poor student and ended up leaving Princeton to enlist in the US Army to fight in WWI, but the war ended shortly after that.

He met and fell in love with Zelda Sayre while he was at Camp Sheridan. They were engaged in 1919 and he moved to New York City to find work and start his life with Zelda. He was working at an advertising firm and writing short stories but Zelda didn’t feel that he would be able to support her so she broke off the engagement. He returned to St. Paul and finished This Side of Paradise about the post WWI flapper generation. It was accepted and published on March 26, 1920 and became one of the most popular books of the year. Scott and Zelda resumed their relationship and were married in New York’s St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Their only child, Frances Scott, was born on October 26, 1921 and was lovingly called Scottie.

Writing novels was Fitzgerald’s passion but after his first book was published he turned to writing short stories for The Saturday Evening Post, Collier’s Weekly and Esquire magazines to supplement his income. Because of their luxurious lifestyle and Zelda’s medical care for schizophrenia, they were often in financial straits. He borrowed money from his editor and his longtime friend and agent Harold Ober. Further advances were refused and Fitzgerald severed ties with Ober and wrote an apologetic tribute to his support in the short story Financing Finnegan. On going financial problems interrupted the writing of his fourth novel and he started writing commercial short stories. Zelda’s fragile health continued to decline and in 1932 she was hospitalized. They eventually became estranged and she lived in mental institutions on the east coast. He was living with Hollywood gossip columnist, Sheilah Graham.

An alcoholic since his college days, Fitzgerald’s health was poor. He was believed to be bi-polar which was made worse by his drug use. In late 1940 he had two heart attacks. The second was a massive heart attack that took place in Sheilah Graham’s apartment while she watched over him. Fitzgerald died before he could finish The Love of the Last Tycoon. The manuscript, along with the notes and an outline for the remainder of the story, was edited by literary critic and friend, Edmund Wilson. It was published in 1941 as The Last Tycoon. In 1994 the book was reissued under its intended title.

Fitzgerald wrote five novels, the most popular being The Great Gatsby. He also wrote 8 Short Story Collections, 17 Short Stories (including The Curious Case of Benjamin Button which was recently made into a movie starring Brad Pitt as the adult Benjamin), 1 play and essays. Zelda died in a hospital fire in 1948. The two are buried in the family plot in Saint Mary’s Cemetery in Rockville, Maryland.