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Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald is born in St. Paul, Minnesota. -
1908-1909 – The Fitzgerald family returns to St. Paul; Fitzgerald attends St. Paul Academy, publishes his first piece of writing (a detective story) at about age 13.
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1911-1913 – He attends the Newman School (a Catholic prep school) in New Jersey, meeting Father Sigourney Fay who encourages his literary talent.
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Fall 1913 – Enters Princeton University with the class of 1917; writes for the Princeton Tiger and scripts for the Triangle Club.
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November 1917 – Leaves Princeton to join the army during World War I.
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Summer 1918 – Stationed at Camp Sheridan near Montgomery, Alabama, where he meets Zelda Sayre, daughter of an Alabama Supreme Court judge -
1919 – Moves to New York City and takes a job at an advertising agency making $90 a month; Zelda breaks off their engagement because of financial instability.
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1920 – His first novel, This Side of Paradise, is published and brings him fame and money; he marries Zelda in April -
1922 – His second novel, The Beautiful and Damned, is published; also publishes Tales of the Jazz Age.
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1924 – The Fitzgeralds move to Europe (France Riviera) with their daughter Frances Scott (“Scottie,” born 1921); Fitzgerald completes his masterpiece
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1925 – His most famous novel, The Great Gatsby, is published -
1930-1932 – Zelda suffers a serious mental breakdown; Fitzgerald’s drinking becomes heavy; the marriage becomes troubled
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1934 – Publishes the novel Tender Is the Night, his last completed novel, which is moving but commercially unsuccessful.
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1937-1939 – Moves to Hollywood, becomes a screenwriter for a time; starts writing The Last Tycoon (unfinished).
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December 21, 1940 – Fitzgerald dies of a heart attack in Hollywood at age 44. His unfinished novel The Last Tycoon is published posthumously in 1941.