F. Scott Fitzgerald

Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald was born in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1896. He wanted to become a writer from a young age. Fitzgerald attended Princeton University but dropped out to join the Army. During infantry training, Fitzgerald met and fell in love with Zelda Sayre, whom he married in 1920. That same year, Fitzgerald published his first novel, This Side of Paradise. During the 1920s, the Fitzgeralds lived an opulent lifestyle in Paris, though Fitzgerald’s other novels did not sell as well as his first – his masterpiece, The Great Gatsby, did not become popular until after his death. In 1937, Fitzgerald moved to Los Angeles, selling commercial short stories. After years of alcoholism and poor health, Fitzgerald died of a heart attack in 1940, at age 44.