St. Paul is haunted by the ghost of F. Scott Fitzgerald. Go just about anywhere and you will be treading ground that he did — especially if you stay in the Summit Avenue/Ramsey Hill neighborhood.
For instance:
• Fitzgerald was born at 481 Laurel Av. and also lived, at various times and in various houses, on Summit Avenue, Goodrich Avenue and Holly Avenue.
• He lived with his wife, Zelda, at 599 Summit Av., where he rewrote "This Side of Paradise" and occasionally slipped out of a window in order to smoke clandestine cigarettes.
• He hung out at W.A. Frost long before it was a restaurant with a fabulous patio. (It was a pharmacy then, and that's where he bought those clandestine cigarettes.)
• He took his Illinois sweetheart, Ginevra King, to dances at the Town and Country Club on Mississippi River Boulevard. (And later immortalized her in any number of stories, as well as "The Great Gatsby.")
• He and Zelda lived at the Commodore Hotel when their daughter, Scottie, was born.
• Don't even get me started on White Bear Lake. (He and Zelda were a bit rowdy — they got kicked out of the yacht club there.)
So it is surprising that the biannual International F. Scott Fitzgerald Society conference has been held in St. Paul only once, back in 2002. But the second time is coming right up — next summer.
The conference takes place every other year, alternating between the United States and Europe. Last year, Ireland. Next year, St. Paul. It will be from June 25 to July 1, bringing in perhaps 300 people, and while it is a scholarly conference, there will be plenty of nonacademic presentations as well as public events.
Call for papers, an open house
The call is out now for papers; the theme of the conference will be "Was student — am now writer." Locally, the conference will be coordinated by the folks at the nonprofit group Fitzgerald in St. Paul, who encourage proposals that focus on Fitzgerald's Midwestern connections.
Proposals of 250 to 500 words should be sent to fitzinstpaul17@gmail.com by Nov. 1. (For more information, go to fitzgerald2017.org.)
If you want to learn more about Fitzgerald's life here, check out John Koblas' "A Guide to F. Scott Fitzgerald's St. Paul" (Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2004).
And consider attending one of the frequent Fitzgerald in St. Paul events. Next up is an open house at Fitzgerald's old home at 599 Summit Av. (which is for sale) at 2 p.m. on Aug. 7. Cost is $10, and you can reserve a spot by e-mailing info@fitzgeraldinsaintpaul.org. You can walk the house, visit Fitzgerald's writing room, try to picture what life was like there back then.
(You may not, however, climb out of the window, nor smoke clandestine cigarettes.)
Laurie Hertzel is the Star Tribune's senior editor for books. On Twitter: @StribBooks. On Facebook: facebook.com/startribunebooks
