Zelda Fitzgerald

Born: July 24, 1900 

Died: March 10, 1948 

Life:  

Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald was born in Montgomery, Alabama to Minerva Buckner "Minnie" Machen and Anthony Dickinson Sayre, a justice of the Supreme Court of Alabama. Zelda was the youngest of six children, and spoiled by her mother while her father was strict and remote. Zelda belonged to a prestigious Southern family, made up of US and State Senators as well as prominent members of Montgomery society.  

An active and social child, Zelda thrived in ballet and was intelligent but unmotivated. In high school, she led her social group and was known to drink, smoke, and a local newspaper quoted her as saying she only cared for "boys and swimming." Her lack of propriety shocked her hometown, but her father's reputation prevented her societal ruin.  

Zelda met her future husband, F. Scott Fitzgerald, the summer after her senior year in high school, 1918. Scott, a volunteer in the WWI efforts, was stationed right outside Montgomery and called on Zelda daily, courting her with dreams of being a famous writer. When Scott initially proposed to Zelda she refused him. Social standing was an important factor and Zelda wouldn't accept his numerous proposals until his first novel, This Side of Paradise, was published.  

Icons of the Jazz Age, Zelda and Scott became symbols of youth, success, and excess. Dorothy Parker, famous American writer and satirist, when discussing the couple said, "They did both look as though they had just stepped out of the sun; their youth was striking." Their marriage and lifestyle was envied by all and helped shape the American Dream. Scott's writing relied heavily on his relationship with his wife. Zelda was known as the original American Flapper, and her vivid personality comes across many of Scott's novels.  

However, their marriage was polluted by alcoholism, jealousy, and infidelity. Many of their problems originating with Zelda's unfulfilling life as a wife and housekeeper. A talented writer, she wanted to be known outside of her husband's long shadow. Her writing efforts caused tension between the couple with Scott stealing pieces of her writing for his own use. Zelda took up her old hobby of ballet as a way to separate herself from her husband's career. She would spend eight hours every day at the studio practicing until physical and mental deterioration in 1930.  

After her breakdown, Zelda was diagnosed with schizophrenia. In 1932 while at Phipps Psychiatric Clinic at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, Maryland, she wrote her only published novel, the autobiographical Save Me the Waltz, in two months. After showing the book to Scott, it's speculated Zelda was forced to change numerous parts so it wouldn't conflict with his recounting similar events in Tender is the Night. Her book was eventually published through Scott's publisher Scribner, and, although 3,010 copies were printed, only 1,392 copies were sold.  

Zelda spent the rest of her life in and out of sanitariums. On the night of March 10, 1948, a fire broke out in the hospital where she was receiving treatment. Zelda was locked in a room while awaiting electroshock therapy. Unable to escape, Zelda and nine other women died. In true mythic fashion, it's claimed that Zelda was identified by a slipper that managed to remain unburned as it was curled underneath her. It was later revealed that her identity was confirmed by dental records. 

Zelda is considered a legendary figure of the Roaring 20s. Her talents as a dancer, writer, and artist are often overshadowed by her husband's legacy. In honor of the new decade, we dedicate our first episode to the original Flapper—a brilliant and tormented artist.