Flappers and Philosophers (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781484109885)

Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald was born on September 24, 1896 in St. Paul Minnesota and named after his second cousin Francis Scott Key. He was also the first cousin of Mary Surratt, who was hanged for conspiring to assassinate Abraham Lincoln. For most of his life, he was simply called Scott. Fitzgerald lived in Buffalo, New York from 1898 until 1908, staying in Syracuse, New York from 1902 until 1903. His parents were unconventional and allowed him to attend a Catholic school, but only for a half-day. The family returned to St. Paul in 1908, but sent Scott to a prep school in New Jersey when he was fifteen. At the age of thirteen, his first story, a detective story, had already appeared in print. After graduation, he remained in New Jersey to attend Princeton. His academic work was poor and he dropped out to join the army in 1917, just as America was entering World War I. He wrote many short stories, but his passion was writing novels, four of which were published during his lifetime, and one posthumously. Only "The Great Gatsby" was a bestseller. Fitzgerald had been an alcoholic since the 1920s and by the 30s was in poor health. He had also contracted tuberculosis and had two heart attacks. On December 21, 1940, he had a third and fatal heart attack in Hollywood. His funeral was in Baltimore, Maryland, and he was buried in Rockville, then exhumed and reinterred in 1975 in a Catholic cemetery.