Welcome to the roaring 1920's! The Jazz Age. A period within time which
the passive behaviors, beliefs, and purity of the past generations, were tossed
aside to create room for the changes America was about to experience! The birth
of independent voting rights for women, lavishing parties, and where excitement
was to be found in every corner. This was the era in which the people were
considered the "Lost Generation," and from this environment emerged a eminent
writer of those times. Francis Scott Fitzgerald.
Born to the calm and submissive atmosphere of St. Paul Minnesota, he
came from a line of highly regarded men and women from his family's past. His
most famous relative by far was Francis Scott Key. The writer of our national
anthem. Though he was certainly the most famous Fitzgerald, his mother was the
most eccentric. Often dressed in miss-matched shoes and had a peculiar behavior,
she at one time stared at a woman whose husband was dying and said: "I'm trying
to decide how you'll look in the mourning."
"I helped him by encouraging his urge to write adventures. It was also
his best work. He did not shine in his other subjects. It was the pride in his
literary work that put him in his real bent." Recalls his St. Paul Academy
teacher. From that prestigious school he then traveled and began attendance in
Princeton University. Not a promising student he was often late to his classes.
His excuse was once "Sir-it's absurd to expect me to be on time. I'm a
genius!!!" Though the "Princeton years" we not his most memorable, it provided
an outlet for his writing, and talent.
During his junior year he left Princeton and entered the army in 1917.
Though he was never sent to battle for his country, there he began work on the
short story, The Romantic Egoist, which was published as This Side of Paradise.
Though rejected it later returns as a imitated nationwide sensation. When time
and Ame...