'Because You Have Something To Say'

 “An author ought to write for the youth of his own generation, the critics of the next, and the schoolmaster of ever afterwards.” – F. Scott Fitzgerald

 

Born in Minnesota on this date in 1896, Fitzgerald was one of the greatest and most-read authors of his time and remains so yet today.  In his short life – he died at age 44 – he produced just 5 novels, but all have been lauded, studied and quoted from and about for the past century.  His writing legacy is greatly enlarged by his numerous short stories and thousands of pages of script for multiple movies, particularly for MGM studios.

 

His books have been made into movies numerous times, particularly The Great Gatsby, which is rated one of the top ten English language novels of all time.  Fitzgerald and his wife Zelda, who also was a noted author, have been referenced or featured in many, many books and stories and often are cited as “the model couple” for the Roaring Twenties Flapper Era. 
 

Fitzgerald and contemporary author Ernest Hemingway had a great friendship during the 1920s and the early 1930s – particularly during their times together in Paris.  But Hemingway’s dislike of Zelda and distaste for the magazine writing Fitzgerald was doing eventually led to a rift that was never repaired.  Fitzgerald was unfazed and defended his writing as unique and important.

 

“You don't write because you want to say something,” he said, “you write because you have something to say.”

 

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