On FS Fitzgerald in Asheville
One of the books I picked up while living in Asheville recently is called Tom, Scott, and Zelda: Following in Their Footsteps by Bruce Johnson, Here is one paragraph:
“Hoping to revitalize his writing career, in 1935 Scott [Fitzgerald] withdrew to North Carolina. During the next two years he careened between a series of hotels including the Grove Park Inn, the Oak Hall Hotel, the Skyland Hotel, the Battery Park Hotel, and the Lake Lure Inn, still searching for his lost inspiration. Convinced he had tuberculosis, Scott used his poor health as an excuse for his failure to regain his status as America’s most popular short story writer. In truth it was brought on by his incessant smoking, drinking, and poor eating habits.”
The author goes on to say Fitzgerald had an extra-marital affair with a woman at one of the hotels while Zelda was being treated at the time in Baltimore for her mental health problems. The author of Z, a biographical novel about Zelda, said at a speech I attended that one problem in their relationship was that Scott was better-looking than Zelda was. Beauty is subjective, but it must have been tempting for Scott to have affairs when he was handsome, famous, and successful.
My opinion about Asheville after living there less than a year is the tourism industry is so important that security and police often over-react to eccentric, non-violent behavior that they think might bother other guests. I understand why Fitzgerald left for L.A.; even though that city wasn’t good for him either.