The Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul, MN

Built in 1910, and originally named the Sam S. Shubert Theater, the Fitzgerald Theater in downtown St. Paul, Minnesota, is home to The Prairie Home Companion, the weekly National Public Radio variety series hosted by Garrison Keillor. Currently owned by Minnesota Public Radio, the theater serves as venue for a range dramatic and musical works. In 1994, the theater was renamed in honor of St. Paul’s native son, F. Scott Fitzgerald, whose birthday we celebrate today — September 24th.

Photo: QuoinMonkey, All Rights Reserved

Happy 117th birthday, F. Scott Fitzgerald

On September 24, 1896, the great American novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald made his earthly debut in the house pictured above, located at 481 Laurel Avenue, St. Paul, Minnesota. Fitzgerald’s father named him Francis Scott Key in honor of his distant cousin who wrote the “Star Spangled Banner.” Fitzgerald is pictured at left in 1897, bundled up for the Minnesota weather, with his birthplace in the background.

In 2004, Friends of Libraries USA declared Fitzgerald’s birthplace a National Literary Landmark — one of only a few such designations in the United States.

Happy Belated Birthday to You, F. Scott Fitzgerald

In one of the most famous passages from The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Daisy Buchanan states: “In two weeks it’ll be the longest day in the year…Do you always watch for the longest day of the year and then miss it? I always watch for the longest day in the year and then miss it.”

Well, we’ve celebrated many authors’ birthdays in the Silver Birch Press blog, but the writer whose birthday we wanted to celebrate most of all is F. Scott Fitzgerald. Rereading The Great Gatsby a couple of months ago inspired the birth of the Silver Birch Press blog — and, during the past few months, we’ve written frequent posts about Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby, and even the author’s hometown of St. Paul, Minnesota.

So I could only think of Daisy missing the longest day of the year when I woke up this morning and realized that I’d missed F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 116th birthday! Yes, yesterday was F. Scott Fitzgerald’s birthday!

I blame it on the hot, dry weather in Los Angeles that makes it hard to string two thoughts together. But there’s really no excuse for this blatant oversight. Je suis désolée…