Many great authors draw inspiration from his daily life. Alcoholism, ambition, love and education are prevalent themes behind the life and work of F. Scott Fitzgerald. His privileged early life and education quickly deteriorated due to his devotion to literature, Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald, and alcohol (Bruccoli). On September 4, 1896, Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald was born to Edward and Mollie Fitzgerald in St. Paul, Minnesota. Edward was the second cousin, twice removed, of the author of "The Star-Spangled Banner," and very proud of his heritage, evident in his son's name. Mollie was the daughter of a wealthy Irish immigrant who made his fortune as a wholesale grocer. When Edward's wicker furniture manufacturing business failed, he moved his family to upstate New York to work as a salesman for Procter & Gamble. After losing that job too, Edward turned to alcohol to drown his sorrows. Shortly thereafter, the Fitzgeralds returned to their native St. Paul and lived modestly on Mollie's inheritance. In 1908 F. Scott Fitzgerald began attending St. Paul Academy, where he discovered his passion for writing; when he was thirteen, a detective story he wrote was printed in the school newspaper. After his years at St. Paul, Fitzgerald enrolled at the Newman School, a Catholic prep school in New Jersey. After graduating from elementary school in 1913, Fitzgerald joined Princeton's class of 1917. While attending college, he wrote for the Princeton Tiger humor magazine, the Nassau Literary Magazine, and screenplays and lyrics for the Princeton Triangle Club, all the while neglecting his his studies. In 1917, on probation and unlikely to graduate, Fitzgerald dropped out of Princeton and joined the Army. He was commissioned for a piece of paper in 1939, and had almost a complete draft when he died of a heart attack in Graham's apartment on 21 December 1940 (Teuber). In his eyes, F. Scott Fitzgerald died a failure. It was not until many years later that he was recognized as a notable author. Despite writing articulately about the consequences of money on the soul, F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald were not entirely capable of managing their own finances; Likewise, alcoholism was a prevalent theme in many of his books, but Fitzgerald was powerless against his legacy of alcoholism. Works Cited Bruccoli, Matthew J. A Brief Life of Fitzgerald. 1994. May 6, 2014. Teuber, Andreas. F. Scott Fitzgerald. May 6, 2014 .Willett, Erika. F. Scott Fitzgerald and the American Dream. May 6th 2014 .