My Year With Hemingway: My Afternoon with the Fitzgeralds

My Afternoon with the Fitzgeralds

May 19th, 2013 -- It just so happens that, today, I found myself in Montgomery, Alabama on a business trip, and I could not resist a visit to the home of one of Earnest Hemingway's Ex-patriot friends, drinking buddies, colleagues, and sometime rival -- F. Scott Fitzgerald. It was also the home of his wife and Montgomery native Zelda Fitzgerarld, an accomplished writer, painter and inspiration or muse for many Fitzgerald stories. Moreover -- it is said -- Zelda was the primary cause of the estrangement between these two remarkable men.

I discovered this house and museum -- the only Museum dedicated to the Fitzgeralds in the world -- to be quite interesting and fascinating. It was not a long tour and most of the house seems to be in mothballs or something. However, in the front rooms that are public, and that still resemble the original home, it is stuffed with great artifacts from this couple that many consider one of the great love affairs of the early 20th Century.

The Home with the original narrow circle drive out front

The Fitzgeralds' moved into this neighborhood in the 1930's to be near her father -- a prominent Alabama political figure -- who was ill and near death. The family home is not part of the tour, but no matter. This was sufficient. Mr. Willie Thompson was our guide, and he was over-flowing with information. He is the kind of guide who seems to really enjoy telling and retelling these stories. Lately, due to the recent release of "The Great Gatsby", more tourists than usual have shown up at the drive.

The tour begins in the sun-room with a video documentary about the time that Scott and Zelda lived in this house. There are also recollections by personal friends of Zelda about her years growing up in Montgomery. She was a free spirit and fun. You can see how everyone would come to love her, even if she had to be difficult to live with at times.

This is the Photograph that Gave Zelda the reputation as the original Flapper Girl

Unfortunately, Zelda suffered terrible mental illness, including bi-polar disorder, and was often placed in homes and and hospitals during their tragic marriage. If the 1920's was the golden era for this couple, the 1930's was the beginning of the dark years.

With Tour Guide Willie Thompson Holding Scott Fitzgerald's Ledger of Earnings from his Writings

Interestingly, Willie is also the Son of the New Business Manager for Harper Lee (To Kill a Mockingbird) who is still alive in Alabama and recently fired her manager of many years over theft -- Cool Side Note

Picture of Zelda Taken in Front of the French Doors (sorry for the glare)

Looking Toward the Sun Room from the Sitting Room

Zelda's Hand Painted Light Switch is Still There!

In The Living Room with the Fireplace -- Contains Many of Her Original Paintings, Which Art Experts Compare to Georgia O'Keefe

Many Original Letters -- Including These Describing Her Despair After Her Father's Death

Zelda -- Self-Portrait

More Artifacts

OK ... maybe by now you are wondering, what has this to do with Hemingway? Is this not the title of this blog? Well You are correct. So here is some more Hemingway.

Recent Book on the Relationship

While this may have been the closest platonic friendship in the expat community of the Lost Generation, it was a rocky one. Ultimately, many biographers have noted that the strong sense of competition Earnest had with all writers makes a relationship between two of the 20th Century's greats doomed anyway. Many seem to blame Zelda.... some rumors are that Earnest made a pass at Zelda while all the expats were partying in Niece, France (I think that is just a rumor). However, it is clear that Zelda did not like Earnest and was somewhat jealous of their close friendship. She basically warned Scott to make his choice, and he did.

On the wall in the study of this house is perhaps the final letter breaking-off the friendship, from Scott to Ernest. In it he writes critically of the endings of Hemingway's work, even while pleading forgiveness. The letter is written with an amazing style itself. I think talent must have just ooozed out of this man's pen.

Our tour guide said that Ernest Hemingway's response to this letter, which as you could imagine held no punches and was right to the point -- no flowery prose here -- is framed and at the JFK Library.

Well anyway, it was fun reading the actual letter. There are also many of the first edition books and magazine articles. Actually, while we think of Scott Fitzgerald as a novelist, he made most of his living writing short stories for magazines like Saturday Evening Post and others. Ernest and he shared the same agent in Max Perkins, perhaps the most brilliant agent in history, and it was these short stories that kept him financially above water.

The Great Gatsby Story. I found it interesting that one of the main features in the book and the book cover itself actually existed before the book was finished being written. The famous painting of the eyes looking down was actually painted before. Max Perkins loved it. Scott saw it and said "do not let anyone else use it I am going to put it in my book." So the sign that was in the book looking down? The art from that actually so inspired Scott that it is one of the first times a writer ever included the cover art in a story before the book was actually finished. Maybe it is just me, but I thought that was interesting.

The Grove and Front Yard Where Scott Fitzgerald Was Writing When He Passed Out Drunk While Waiting for Zelda to Return from a Trip to Florida After Her Father's Death

The Neighbors Are Talking: After Zelda's father passed away, it was the beginning of yet another phase of severe mental problems for Zelda. Her first reaction was to run away to Florida with a friend, in despair. Scott waited for her return at the home, taking care of their only daughter Scottie, worried about her condition and if she would even survive.

One of the only things he actually owned was a "camp table" -- a folding writing table -- that he used to write on outdoors, his favorite place to write.

While awaiting Zelda's return from her Florida trip, he set up his writing table in the front yard and began to write -- with a bottle of Jack Daniels at his side. It was December and cold even in this Deep South City. Eventually, Scott passed out on the front lawn, for all the neighborhood to see. Finally, after pretty much everyone in town had walked by to see if it were true (he was a famous personality, remember), one humble and nice soul picked him up and took him back inside before nightfall. It was the talk of the town.

Soon thereafter, her father now gone, they saw no need to remain in Montgomery. Scott returned to Hollywood to write movie scripts, and Zelda was institutionalized in North Caroline. They spent much of their marriage apart because of her hospitalizations. The days of splashing in the fountain at The Plaza and being the toast of New York were over. The highs of living the expatriot "lost generation" lifestyle in Paris and the South of France were also over. Unfortunately, she was on the wrong side of her bi-polar disorder, but would somehow continue to paint and write from her institutions as a way to deal with her despair. She accepted many of her husband's affairs and seemed to understand because of her absence. Even though he died in his 40s of a heart attack and alcoholism at his lover's home in Beverly Hills, his biographers say Scott Fitzgerald never loved anyone else but Zelda, and that likewise Zelda was always madly in love with Scott. Sadly, she met her fate when the institution she lived in near Ashville, North Caroline burned to the ground and the patients could not escape. They are both buried together side-by-side in Rockville, MD, just outside of Washington, DC.

One of the great love stories between two literary figures in American literature was over.