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117-547: The rink is named in honor of former Princeton star Hobart A.H. "Hobey" Baker , '14. Baker was a football and hockey star who died shortly after World War I. In December 1921, it was decided to build an on-campus arena for the hockey team, and to name it after Baker. It is the second-oldest arena still in use in NCAA Division I hockey, behind only Matthews Arena at Northeastern University ; however, Northeastern has only played at Matthews Arena since 1930, giving Princeton

234-507: A Curtiss "Jenny" flown by fellow Governors Island student Cord Meyer (a Yalie), joined a squadron of New York National Guard Jennies led by Captain Raynal Bolling , the most to have ever flown in military formation, and flew to Palmer Stadium , home of the Princeton football team. The planes performed several maneuvers, to the delight of the crowd, and Baker landed on the field, becoming

351-526: A car ride from a wealthy upper-class man driven by his resentful working-class chauffeur, a brash Amory speaks out in favor of socialism in the United States—although he admits he is still formulating his thoughts as he is talking. While riding in the expensive Locomobile , Amory concludes his argument about their time's societal ills and articulates his disillusionment with the current historical era. He announces his hope to stand alongside those in

468-524: A congratulatory letter to Fitzgerald: "I am very glad, personally, to be able to write to you that we are all for publishing your book This Side of Paradise ... I think that you have improved it enormously... The book is so different that it is hard to prophesy how it will sell but we are all for taking a chance and supporting it with vigor." Upon receiving Perkin's letter and learning of his first novel's impending publication, Fitzgerald became euphoric. "The postman rang, and that day I quit work and ran along

585-646: A cultural phenomenon among young Americans. According to writer John O'Hara , half a million young men and women "fell in love with the book," and, according to essayist Glenway Wescott , Fitgerald's novel became the rallying banner of the "youth movement". The novel's immense popularity among American youth stemmed from its frank portrayal of their chafing under the outdated social mores of Wilsonian America. Although earlier works about collegiate life had been published such as Owen Johnson 's Stover at Yale (1912), Fitzgerald's work became heralded as "the first realistic American college novel", and young Americans viewed

702-532: A failure, Fitzgerald became a recluse and lived on the top floor of his parents' home at 599 Summit Avenue on Cathedral Hill. He decided to make one last attempt to become a novelist and to stake everything on the success or failure of a book. Abstaining from alcohol, he worked day and night to revise The Romantic Egotist as This Side of Paradise —an autobiographical account of his Princeton years and his romances with Ginevra King, Zelda Sayre, Elizabeth Beckwith MacKie, and other young women. Fitzgerald chose

819-713: A famous novelist. "Three months before I was born," Scott later wrote, "my mother lost her other two children... I think I started then to be a writer." While attending Princeton University, his passion for writing literature began to solidify into a career choice, and he wrote fiction as an undergraduate for the Princeton Triangle Club , the Princeton Tiger , and the Nassau Literary Review . During his sophomore year at Princeton, Fitzgerald returned home to Saint Paul, Minnesota during Christmas break where

936-404: A household name. The book went through twelve printings and sold 49,075 copies. While the book did not make him wealthy, his newfound fame enabled him to earn higher rates for his short stories, and his improved financial prospects persuaded his fiancée Zelda Sayre to marry him. Although not one of the ten best-selling novels of the year, the novel became popular among young Americans, and

1053-545: A man of wealth and status. Rejected by the materialistic Rosalind due to his lack of financial prospects and his inability to support her affluent lifestyle, a distraught Amory quits his advertising job and goes on an alcoholic bender for three weeks until the start of prohibition in the United States . When Amory travels to visit an uncle in Maryland, he meets Eleanor Savage, a beautiful and reckless atheist. Eleanor chafes under

1170-444: A national figure. He riveted the public's attention on the promiscuous activities of their sons and daughters cavorting in the rumble seats of Bearcat roadsters and prompted a national conversation over the perceived immorality of this hedonistic younger generation. Despite the fact that Fitzgerald had composed the work nearly half a decade earlier and his novel chronicled the restrained pre-war 1910s social milieu at Princeton,

1287-452: A new scoreboard was installed in 2018. 40°20′34″N 74°39′28″W  /  40.3429°N 74.6578°W  / 40.3429; -74.6578 This article about a sports venue in New Jersey is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Hobey Baker Hobart Amory Hare " Hobey " Baker (January 15, 1892 – December 21, 1918) was an American amateur athlete of

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1404-500: A punt, and had never lost to Yale. The summer after graduation, Baker toured Europe as a celebrity correspondent for The New York Times , where he wrote about events like the Henley Royal Regatta . Through his Princeton classmates, he was hired by Wall Street insurance firm Johnson & Higgins upon his return to the United States. Soon after, another Princeton graduate offered him a job at J.P. Morgan Bank . Hired onto

1521-528: A quote from Zelda's letters for a soliloquy by the narrator in the final pages. Zelda had written a letter eulogizing the Confederate soldiers who died during the American Civil War . "I've spent today in the graveyard," she wrote to Scott, "Isn't it funny how, out of a row of Confederate soldiers, two or three will make you think of dead lovers and dead loves—when they're exactly like the others, even to

1638-498: A reporter that he would rather have nothing written about him. In order to leave the arena quickly after hockey games without having to deal with the public, Baker often borrowed Pyne's valet and car. During the two years that Baker played hockey with St. Nicholas, he was recognized as one of the best players in the American Amateur Hockey League and named to the post-season All-Star Teams both years. While still with

1755-679: A result of Fitzgerald's new fame as a celebrated author chronicling "youth in revolt" against traditional values, social conservatives attacked the young author in the press. Heywood Broun decried Fitzgerald's use of modern slang and attempted to discredit Fitzgerald by claiming the young author wholly fabricated his novel's depiction of young people engaging in drunken sprees and premarital sex. An amused Fitzgerald publicly ridiculed such allegations, and he opined that such critics wished to discredit his work in order to retain their outdated conceptions of American society. The majority of critics lauded Fitzgerald's debut novel with "wild enthusiasm", and

1872-452: A result of engine failure, unsubstantiated rumors began to circulate that his death was not accidental. Those who knew him were aware of his reluctance to return to civilian life and his feelings over the loss of Scott. He could have returned to America and played professional sport, where he could have earned far more money than from a job in finance, but his upbringing made that impossible for him. A career in business held no appeal; during

1989-483: A score of 3–2. Baker scored all three Philadelphia goals to net a hat trick . Baker began to tire of playing hockey after 1915; the constant physical play of opposing players on the ice had taken its toll, and the growing professionalism of the sport went against his belief that sports should be played for the love of the game. Looking for new adventures, in 1916 he joined a civilian aviation corps led by New York City attorney Phillip A. Carroll on Governors Island , off

2106-556: A series of unfulfilling romances with young women. The novel explores themes of love warped by greed and social ambition. Fitzgerald, who took inspiration for the title from a line in Rupert Brooke 's poem Tiare Tahiti , spent years revising the novel before Scribner's accepted it for publication. Within months of its publication, This Side of Paradise became a sensation in the United States, and reviewers hailed it as an outstanding debut novel. Overnight, F. Scott Fitzgerald became

2223-535: A socialite known as Mimi, to whom Baker was briefly engaged late in 1918. A quiet individual, Baker was embarrassed when bank executives brought important clients by his office to see him. He quickly tired of working in an office job, and looked for ways to alleviate his boredom. Baker found enjoyment outside the office through sports. He joined the St. Nicholas Club , an amateur hockey team in New York, soon after he arrived in

2340-537: A truly amazing first novel—original in structure, extremely sophisticated in manner, and adorned with a brilliancy that is as rare in American writing... The young American novelist usually reveals himself as a naive, sentimental and somewhat disgusting ignoramus—a believer in Great Causes , a snuffler and eye-roller, a spouter of stale philosophies out of Kensington drawing rooms , the doggeries of French hack-drivers , and

2457-426: A two-year trainee program, Baker earned about $ 20 per week. Baker befriended a rich New York socialite, Percy R. Pyne 2nd , who had also attended St. Paul's and Princeton. Though ten years older than Baker, they quickly became friends and Pyne allowed Baker to stay at his house at 263 Madison Avenue . Some researchers claim Baker and Pyne had a romantic relationship. Pyne later introduced Baker to Jeanne Marie Scott,

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2574-519: A wealthy Chicago polo player, a heartbroken Fitzgerald professed his affection for Zelda in September 1918. In October 1918, Fitzgerald submitted a revised version of The Romantic Egoist to Scribner's, but the publisher rejected the work a second time, and he captioned their telegram in his scrapbook: " The end of a dream ." After his army discharge in February 1919, Fitzgerald moved to New York City amid

2691-432: A wealthy debutante whom he first met as a boy. Amory and Isabelle embark upon a romantic relationship. While at Princeton, Amory deluges Isabelle with letters and poems, but she becomes disenchanted with him due to his criticism. After his prom, they break up on Long Island. Following their separation, Amory goes with a Princeton classmate to an apartment occupied by two New York showgirls of easy virtue. He considers staying

2808-466: A weekend vacation with a fellow Princeton graduate, Baker revealed that he felt his life was over, and he would never again experience the thrills of football or hockey. In 1966, author John D. Davies published a biography of Baker, in which he noted that a relative of Baker's could not see a future for him in the post-war world. However, Davies refused to elaborate on what he called the "suicide theory of [Baker's] enigmatic death", as he feared that "some of

2925-500: A young Midwesterner , is convinced that he has a great destiny, but the precise nature of this destiny is uncertain. He attends a posh college-preparatory school where he becomes a football quarterback and then enters Princeton University. He grows estranged from his eccentric mother Beatrice Blaine and becomes the protégé of Monsignor Thayer Darcy, a Catholic priest. During his sophomore year at Princeton, he returns to Minneapolis over Christmas break and falls in love with Isabelle Borgé ,

3042-590: Is considered one of the greatest ice hockey players of his era, and the first great American hockey player. He was one of the first nine players inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame upon its founding in 1945, the first American so honored, and was inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame as one of its charter members in 1973. Baker was posthumously awarded the Lester Patrick Trophy by

3159-457: Is essential to achieving balance. Wandering through a graveyard at twilight, he reflects on mortality and finds solace in the fact that future generations may one day ponder his life. He reflects upon the next generation—inheriting disillusionment and a loss of faith, yet still chasing love and success. Standing alone and gazing at Princeton's gothic towers , Amory feels a newfound freedom. In a moment of self-realization, he stretches out his arms to

3276-499: Is likely higher. This Side of Paradise This Side of Paradise is the debut novel by American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald , published in March 1920. It examines the lives and morality of carefree American youth at the dawn of the Jazz Age . Its protagonist, Amory Blaine, is an attractive middle-class student at Princeton University who dabbles in literature and engages in

3393-517: Is risen, who speaketh for Youth in Revolt!" wrote The Montgomery Advertiser , describing the reaction to Fitzgerald's novel. "All things formerly held to be beautiful, good and true are now become futile, fatuous and fabulous, and worthy of respect no more. The bob-haired girl and the mop topped boy shall teach you the Facts of Life. Go to, ye elders, hearken unto them!'" The author became identified as leading

3510-469: Is the only adequate study that we have had of the contemporary American in adolescence and young manhood." "The prize first novel of a decade is F. Scott Fitzgerald's This Side of Paradise ," critic Fanny Butcher raved in her June 1920 column for The Chicago Tribune , singling out Fitzgerald for particular praise amid other competitors that included the U.S. publication of Virginia Woolf 's first novel The Voyage Out and Zane Grey 's novel A Man for

3627-468: The 141st Aero Squadron . Baker died in December 1918 after a plane he was test-piloting crashed, hours before he was due to leave France and return to America. Baker was widely regarded by his contemporaries as one of the best athletes of his time and is considered one of the best early American hockey players. When the Hockey Hall of Fame was founded in 1945, Baker was named one of the first nine inductees,

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3744-528: The Hobey Baker Memorial Rink . The Hobey Baker Award was introduced in 1980, awarded annually to the best collegiate hockey player. Baker was born in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania , the second son of Alfred Thornton Baker, a wealthy upholsterer , and Mary Augusta Pemberton, a socialite. Alfred, known as Bobby to his friends, had played halfback while a student at Princeton University in the 1880s,

3861-713: The National Hockey League and USA Hockey in 1987 for his contributions to hockey in the United States. In 1975, he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame and is the only person in both the College Football and Hockey Halls of Fame. Baker was also inducted into the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame in 2010. His popularity was such that, after he enlisted in the military, so many of his fellow Princeton athletes followed his lead that

3978-465: The Panic of 1907 and could only afford to send one of his sons to college. Thornton agreed to let his talented younger brother continue his education, a sacrifice that Hobey Baker never forgot. Although an above-average student, Baker stayed an extra year at St. Paul's in 1909 to allow his father another year to save money. By the time Baker left St. Paul's, his sporting achievements had helped make him one of

4095-484: The armistice which ended the war, Baker's engagement with Scott was broken off; Scott then began a relationship with an American diplomat in Paris, Philander Cable. Missing his fiancée and the excitement of the war, he felt directionless; he dreaded going back to work in an office and considered himself a sportsman rather than a businessman. Though he was scheduled to return to the United States in December, Baker requested and

4212-530: The armistice with Imperial Germany in November 1918, Amory settles in New York City as it undergoes the birth pangs of the Jazz Age . Rebounding from Isabelle, he becomes infatuated with Rosalind Connage , a cruel and narcissistic flapper . Desperate for a job, Amory is hired by an advertising agency, but he detests the work. His relationship with Rosalind deteriorates as she prefers a rival suitor, Dawson Ryder,

4329-569: The eating clubs that were at the center of social life at the university. Baker was named captain of the football team in 1913, his senior year. Princeton finished with a record of five wins, two losses, and one tie. Over his three-year football career with the Tigers, Baker scored 180 points, a school record that lasted until 1964 when Cosmo Iacavazzi broke it in the final quarter of his last college game. Baker caught over 900 punts in his career, and averaged 300 yards in punt returns per season. He

4446-415: The 13th Squadron recorded its first confirmed kill during a flight led by Baker; he and two other men shot down a German plane. In August, Baker and another pilot were promoted and given command of their own squadron; Baker was given charge of the 141st Aero Squadron , composed of 26 pilots and 180 enlisted men stationed behind the front line, where they had to wait for equipment to arrive before leaving for

4563-405: The 18-year-old aspiring writer met and fell in love with 16-year-old Chicago debutante Ginevra King . They began a passionate romantic relationship spanning several years. Although Ginevra loved him, her upper-class family belittled Scott's courtship because of his lower-class status compared to her other wealthy suitors. Rejected by Ginevra as a suitable match, a suicidal Fitzgerald enlisted in

4680-436: The 1911 season with a record of eight wins and two ties in ten games and won the national championship. During a game against Yale on November 18, 1911, Baker set a school record that still stands when he had 13 punt returns for 63 yards. During the 1911 football season Baker scored 92 points, a school record that lasted until 1974. Princeton finished the 1912 season with seven wins, one loss, and one tie in nine games. As

4797-492: The Ages . Butcher declared Fitzgerald's book to be "the living, palpitant being of the youth of the hour, a book which, I haven't a doubt in the world, will have a serious and far reaching effect on American literature." Perhaps the most influential review of Fitzgerald's novel came from critic H. L. Mencken , the notoriously acerbic editor of the influential literary magazine The Smart Set . Mencken's authoritative opinions on

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4914-545: The French. Success in the courses was dependent on how quickly the pilots learned French, the predominant language of instruction. Though he managed to complete all the courses easily, a lack of qualified teachers meant that Baker was first sent to a school in England for more training and then back to France to teach Americans what he had learned in England, in an attempt to create pilots as quickly as possible. This discouraged Baker, who

5031-574: The Jazz Age generation were those Americans younger than Fitzgerald who had been adolescents during World War I and largely untouched by the conflict's psychological horrors. Fitzgerald later described this younger generation as brusquely shouldering himself and his contemporaries out of the way and dancing with wild abandon into the national spotlight: "This was the generation whose girls dramatized themselves as flappers". Due to its focus on liberated flappers and college life, Fitzgerald's novel became

5148-469: The Princeton hockey team did not have its own ice rink, most of their home games were played in New York City at the St. Nicholas Rink , one of the few facilities in the world with artificial ice at the time. The team finished the 1911–12 hockey season with a record of eight wins and two losses in ten games. During his sophomore year, Baker was invited to join the Ivy Club , the oldest and most prestigious of

5265-850: The St. Nicholas Club, Baker was offered a contract by the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey Association . He turned down an offer of $ 20,000 to play three seasons as social conventions prohibited a person of his standing from playing sports for money. On March 24, 1917, Baker played his last hockey game at the Winter Garden at Exposition Hall in Pittsburgh . The game pitted an amateur all-star team from Philadelphia, led by Baker, against an all-star team from Pittsburgh's amateur leagues. The Philadelphia team defeated Pittsburgh in overtime by

5382-564: The United States Army amid World War I. In November 1917, hoping to have a novel published before his deployment to Europe and his anticipated death in the muddy trenches of World War I, Fitzgerald began writing a 120,000-word manuscript titled The Romantic Egotist . Having never before undertaken a novel, he relied upon H. G. Wells ' 1909 novel Tono-Bungay and Sir Compton Mackenzie 's 1913 novel Sinister Street as his literary templates. He sought to write "searchingly

5499-414: The age of fourteen and helped St. Paul's defeat some of the best prep schools and universities in the United States. In every sport he attempted, Baker soon demonstrated proficiency. His cousin said that Baker swam through water "like some sort of engine". After his first attempt at golf he was able to score in the low 40s on the school's nine-hole course; after using roller skates for the first time, he

5616-564: The aircraft. In heavy rain, Baker took off and began to level off at 600 feet. A quarter of a mile into the flight, the engine failed. The plane was generally easy to crash-land if necessary, something he had done previously at the cost of a few broken ribs. Instead of running straight away to land he started to turn back toward the field. The wing slipped, the machine crashed and he was killed. —Eyewitness account of Baker's death by Cpt. Edwin H. Cooper, 26th Division Photographic Officer, United States Signal Corps A few hundred yards from

5733-511: The airfield, his plane crashed nose first into the ground. He was quickly freed from the aircraft by his men, but died in an ambulance minutes later; his orders to return home were found in his jacket pocket. Baker was buried in a small military cemetery near Toul; in 1921, his mother had his remains moved to her family plot in West Laurel Hill Cemetery , Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania. Though newspapers reported that Baker had died as

5850-458: The arena began in the mid-1970s with major improvements including the addition of locker rooms, a skate sharpening room and a stick storage room in 1981, a new scoreboard and lighting improvements in 1984 and a renovation of the roof in 2002. 2016 season saw the introduction of a new sound system in the rink, as well as a team video room, including a smart board and theater-style seating. The men's and women's locker rooms were renovated in 2017, and

5967-528: The author and his work. He subsequently became regarded as "the outstanding aggressor" in the social rebellion of " flaming youth " against the "old guard". Consequently, when Fitzgerald died in 1940, many social conservatives rejoiced. Due to this perception of Fitzgerald and his works, the Baltimore Diocese refused his family permission to bury him at St. Mary's Church in Rockville, Maryland . Here

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6084-446: The change in morals among young Americans and did not leave "any real lasting effect," Fitzgerald attributed the sexual revolution among youth to a combination of popular literature by H. G. Wells and other intellectuals criticizing repressive social norms, Sigmund Freud 's sexual theories gaining salience, and the invention of the automobile allowing youths to escape parental surveillance in order to engage in premarital sex . As

6201-402: The city. Pyne introduced Baker to both polo and auto racing , sports he quickly mastered. Baker remained well known from his time at Princeton; marquees at his home arena, which was shared with Princeton, often said "Hobey Baker Plays Tonight". This made Baker uncomfortable and he eventually asked the building manager to take down the sign. Preferring a life out of the public eye, he once told

6318-586: The coast of Manhattan, a privately funded program to train civilians to pass the Reserve Military Aviator flying test and receive commissions in the Signal Officers Reserve Corps . He often went to the island late in the afternoon after he finished work for the day. Baker found the same enjoyment in flying that he had in sports, but with a more serious aspect. Prior to the annual Yale–Princeton football game on November 18, 1916, Baker in

6435-404: The company agreed to publish it. "My feeling is that a publisher's first allegiance is to talent. And if we aren't going to publish a talent like this, it is a very serious thing," Perkins declared at the meeting. "If we're going to turn down the likes of Fitzgerald, I will lose all interest in publishing books." Despite the fact that Fitzgerald's manuscript repelled older employees at Scribner's,

6552-461: The condition that he could now afford her privileged lifestyle. By the time of their wedding in April 1920, Fitzgerald claimed neither he nor Zelda still loved each other, and the early years of their marriage proved a disappointment. Despite the disappointment of his marriage, Fitzgerald had achieved the peak of his fame and cultural salience, and he recalled traveling in a taxi one afternoon through

6669-403: The conflict's horrors. Fitzgerald's novel riveted the nation's attention on the leisure activities of this hedonistic younger generation and sparked societal debate over their perceived immorality. The novel created the widespread perception of Fitzgerald as a libertine chronicler of rebellious youth and proselytizer of Jazz Age hedonism which led many reactionary societal figures to denounce

6786-443: The distinction of being the school that has played in its current home the longest. After the fire that destroyed University Gymnasium in 1944 the basketball team played at the rink while Dillon Gymnasium was being built. While the game experience in the rink is largely unaltered since the building opened, many upgrades and renovations have been performed behind the scenes for players and spectator comfort. Efforts to modernize

6903-545: The early twentieth century. Considered the first American star in ice hockey by the Hockey Hall of Fame , he was also an accomplished American football player. Born into a prominent family from the Philadelphia area, he enrolled at Princeton University in 1910. Baker excelled on the university's hockey and football teams, and became a noted amateur hockey player for the St. Nicholas Hockey Club in New York City . He

7020-417: The executives relented out of fear of losing Perkins as a gifted editor and literary talent scout. On September 16, eight days before Fitzgerald's 23rd birthday, Scribner's accepted the novel for publication. Now able to express their opinions, lower-ranking editors at Scribner's opined that they believed Fitzgerald's novel represented the "voice of a new age". Soon after Scribner's decision, Perkins wrote

7137-564: The financial disparity between them. After his first confirmed kill on May 21, 1918, the French government awarded him the Croix de Guerre . During the summer, Baker was transferred to the 13th Aero Squadron after its commander, Captain Charles Biddle , requested that he join the squadron as a flight commander. Though reluctant to leave the 103rd, Baker felt that Biddle would not have requested him without confidence in his abilities. On July 20,

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7254-408: The first person to reach a football game by air. The entry of the United States into World War I excited Baker, as it finally gave him a purpose in life and allowed him to make good use of his pilot training. He left the United States for Europe in the summer of 1917, among the first group of Americans to do so. Though eager to join the front immediately, Baker was told that he had to be certified by

7371-462: The first time in his career on May 21, but due to a complicated system of confirming kills, he was not given credit for it. In a letter home describing the battle, Baker said it was the "biggest thrill I ever had in my life", and compared it to the feeling after a big sports game. Throughout the spring of 1918 Baker continued to lead planes over the front, and continued to see Scott, although he began to have reservations over their future together due to

7488-412: The free-spirited character based on Ginevra in his unpublished manuscript. After sharing his ambitions, Zelda dismissed Fitzgerald's remarks as mere boastfulness and concluded that he would never become a famous writer. A romance blossomed, although Fitzgerald continued secretly writing to Ginevra, hoping in vain for a chance to resume their relationship. Three days after Ginevra's arranged marriage to

7605-426: The freshman baseball team before he gave up that sport to focus on hockey and football. In one of his first games with the football team , he helped defeat rival Yale when he faked a drop-kick field goal and instead ran the ball for a touchdown . Easily recognizable on the field because he wore no helmet, Baker was referred to as "the blond Adonis of the gridiron" by Philadelphia sportswriters. Princeton finished

7722-462: The front. Various delays in the arrival of planes and equipment meant that Baker's squadron was unable to participate in the final major offensives of the war. In September, Baker became engaged to Scott. He asked Pyne to sell a bond to pay for an engagement ring, and the newspapers in the United States carried headlines that announced the engagement. Early in October, Baker was promoted again and given

7839-446: The later chapters, particularly Amory's relations with Eleanor. In his annotated copy of This Side of Paradise , Fitzgerald belatedly deemed his Eleanor subplot to be unintentionally hilarious and admitted he could not "even bear to read it." ) Believing that Fitzgerald's protagonist began to elude the author in the second half, Mencken criticized Fitzgerald for dropping "his Amory Blaine as Mark Twain dropped Huckleberry Finn , but for

7956-401: The latest literary endeavors often lifted their authors upward toward greater success or cast them down into cultural oblivion. In his August 1920 review of This Side of Paradise , Mencken described Fitzgerald's work as an amazing debut and lavished praise on its author: The best American novel that I have seen of late is also the product of a neophyte, to wit, F. Scott Fitzgerald... He offers

8073-427: The living room. In 2024, ESPN's 30 for 30 podcast explored Baker's life, legacy, and possibly queer relationship with Percy R. Pyne II, in "Searching for Hobey Baker" (narrated by David Duchovny ). Amateur statistics from Total Hockey , Diamond 2002 , p. 616 ‡ Assists were not officially recorded as a statistic. The numbers here reflect only the assists that were credited to Baker. The actual total

8190-507: The lower floor of the Munich Hofbräuhaus ... Fitzgerald is nothing of the sort. On the contrary, he is... an artist—an apt and delicate weaver of words... Mencken declared the first half of This Side of Paradise to be superior to the second half, perceiving that Fitzgerald's novel became more "thin" as the young author followed less autobiographical, more imaginary plot strands. (Fitzgerald seemingly agreed with Mencken's low opinion of

8307-592: The main character is named Amory Blaine after Baker's middle name, and the minor character Allenby is Baker himself. Mark Goodman's 1985 novel Hurrah for the Next Man Who Dies is a fictionalized account of Baker's life. Baker's honors included a citation on March 27, 1919, by General John Pershing , commander of the American Expeditionary Forces , for exceptional bravery on May 21, 1918, when he brought down his first plane. The Hobey Baker Award

8424-430: The manuscript after making these revisions. By June 1918, Fitzgerald served with the 45th and 67th Infantry Regiments at Camp Sheridan near Montgomery, Alabama. Attempting to rebound from Ginevra's rejection, a lonely Fitzgerald began courting young women, including Zelda Sayre , an idle Southern belle , who reminded him of Ginevra. At their first meeting, Fitzgerald told Zelda that she reminded him of Isabelle,

8541-520: The manuscript, but senior editors Edward L. Burlingame and William C. Brownell disagreed with him regarding its quality and instructed him to reject the work. In an August 19, 1918 letter to Fitzgerald, Perkins turned down the manuscript but praised the writer's talent. Although he had been instructed to reject the work, Perkins provided detailed guidance on how to revise it, suggesting that Fitzgerald add more significance and details about his "affairs with girls." Perkins encouraged Fitzgerald to resubmit

8658-450: The most enthusiastic reviewers went so far as to hail the young Midwestern writer as a literary genius. In his April 1920 review, critic Burton Rascoe of The Chicago Tribune urged his readers to "make a note of the name, F. Scott Fitzgerald. It is borne by a 23 year old novelist who will, unless I am much mistaken, be much heard of hereafter." Rascoe asserted that Fitzgerald's first novel bore "the impress, it seems to me, of genius. It

8775-506: The national press depicted its 23-year-old author as the standard-bearer for "youth in revolt". With his debut novel, social commentators touted Fitzgerald as the first writer to turn the national spotlight on the so-called Jazz Age generation . In contrast to the older Lost Generation to which Gertrude Stein posited that Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway belonged, the Jazz Age generation were younger Americans who had been adolescents during World War I and largely untouched by

8892-469: The new title based on a line in Rupert Brooke 's poem Tiare Tahiti , "Well this side of Paradise!... There's little comfort in the wise." While revising the manuscript, Fitzgerald drew upon the correspondence of friends and acquaintances. He quoted verbatim three letters and one poem by Father Sigourney Fay, a possibly gay Catholic priest with whom Fitzgerald had a close relationship. He also used

9009-582: The next three months, and the two became engaged by March 1919. As time passed, Fitzgerald continued living in poverty in New York City, and he could not convince Zelda that he could support her affluent lifestyle. She broke off their engagement in June. Limbs that gleam and shadowy hair, Or floating lazy, half-asleep. Dive and double and follow after, Snare in flowers, and kiss, and call, With lips that fade, and human laughter And faces individual, Well this side of Paradise! . . . There's little comfort in

9126-467: The night with the showgirls, but his conscience and an apparition compel him to leave. After graduating from his alma mater , he enlists in the United States Army amid World War I . He is shipped overseas to serve in the muddy trenches of the Western front . While overseas, he learns his mother Beatrice has died and most of his family's wealth has been lost due to a series of failed investments. After

9243-412: The novel as a guide for social conduct. Newspapers reported that young American women read the novel as a guide for their rebellious behavior, and some writers miscredited Fitzgerald's novel with creating the cultural archetype of the flapper. With his photograph appearing in many newspapers, the national press depicted Fitzgerald as the standard-bearer for "youth in revolt". "'Behold a new prophet

9360-433: The novel on the grounds of indecency. At the monthly meeting of Scribner's editorial board, an elderly Charles Scribner II , the president of the company, grumbled that Fitzgerald's work lacked "literary merit," and senior editor William C. Brownell dismissed it as "frivolous." As the lone voice supporting the publication of Fitzgerald's novel at the editorial board meeting, a frustrated Perkins threatened to resign unless

9477-516: The novel provided only modest income for Fitzgerald. Copies sold for $ 1.75 (equivalent to $ 27 in 2023), and he earned 10% on the first 5,000 copies and 15% thereafter, totaling $ 6,200 in 1920 (equivalent to $ 94,298 in 2023). Although Fitzgerald complained to his friend Burton Rascoe that "the book didn't make me as rich as I thought it would", his new fame enabled him to earn much higher rates for his short stories, and he could now convince Zelda to marry him. Zelda resumed her engagement on

9594-499: The old guard would be furious if they thought I was trying to prove it". You who seemed winged, even as a lad, With that swift look of those who know the sky, It was no blundering fate that stooped and bade You break your wings, and fall to earth and die, I think some day you may have flown too high, So that immortals saw you and were glad, Watching the beauty of your spirits flame, Until they loved and called you, and you came. —Inscription on Baker's tombstone. Baker

9711-451: The only American among them. In 1973, he became one of the initial inductees in the United States Hockey Hall of Fame . He was also inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1975, and is the only person to be in both the hockey and college football halls of fame. F. Scott Fitzgerald idolized Baker and based Allenby, a minor character in the 1920 novel This Side of Paradise , on him. In 1921, Princeton named its new hockey arena

9828-509: The onset of the Jazz Age . While seeking a breakthrough as an author of fiction, he turned to writing advertising copy for Barron Collier to sustain himself but the vacuity of the work irritated him. "Advertising is a racket, like the movies and the brokerage business," Fitzgerald complained. "You cannot be honest without admitting that its constructive contribution to humanity is exactly minus zero." Although Fitzgerald had not intended to marry Zelda in December 1918, he changed his mind over

9945-415: The precipice, and Amory realizes that he does not love her. Returning to New York City, Amory learns that the fickle Rosalind is now engaged to be married to his wealthy rival Dawson Ryder, and he declares that Rosalind is now dead to him. Amory is further dispirited to learn that his beloved mentor, Monsignor Darcy, has died. Homeless, Amory wanders from New York City to his alma mater Princeton. Accepting

10062-403: The rank of captain. The planes and equipment arrived for his squadron soon after. Baker had the planes painted in Princeton's black and orange and adopted a tiger for the squadron insignia. He recorded two more kills on October 28 and November 5, the last of his career (despite reports at the time of his death, Baker was not an ace , as that required five confirmed kills). Around the time of

10179-475: The religious conformity and gender limitations imposed on her by contemporary society in Wilsonian America . Amory and Eleanor spend a lazy summer conversing about love. On their final night together, before Amory must return to New York City, Eleanor attempts suicide by riding her horse over a cliff in order to prove her disbelief in any deity. At the last moment, she leaps to safety as her horse plummets over

10296-490: The revised manuscript to his acquaintance, Anglo-Irish journalist Shane Leslie , to deliver to Charles Scribner's Sons in New York City. Fitzgerald had met Leslie when the journalist visited America and toured the Newman School in New Jersey. After proofreading The Romantic Egotist , Leslie asked Scribner's to retain the manuscript no matter what they thought of it. He proclaimed that Fitzgerald, upon his presumed death in

10413-402: The revolt against traditional social mores of Wilsonian America and regarded as "the outstanding aggressor" in the rebellion of " flaming youth " against the "old guard". Capitalizing on his new standing as a celebrated author with his finger on the pulse of young America, Fitzgerald gave interviews discoursing on youth culture. Declaring that World War I "had little or nothing to do" with

10530-741: The same school his father had attended. One of Baker's ancestors was Francis Rawle , a Quaker who emigrated to Philadelphia in 1688 and became one of the wealthiest members of the city. Baker was named after his uncle, Dr. Hobart Amory Hare, who was the obstetrician at his birth and president of the Jefferson Medical Hospital in Philadelphia. At the age of eleven, Baker and his twelve-year-old brother Thornton were sent to St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire . Baker's parents divorced in 1907 and both remarried. While at St. Paul's, Baker

10647-527: The school had to cancel its hockey team for the 1917–18 season; all five starting players enlisted in the armed forces. Of the eleven players on the team the previous season, nine enlisted shortly after Baker. Baker was also the inspiration for literary works. In 1913 F. Scott Fitzgerald enrolled at Princeton as a freshman, when Baker was a senior. Though he only spoke to Baker once during their time at Princeton, Fitzgerald idolized him. His first novel, This Side of Paradise , has several references to Baker:

10764-524: The school's most popular students. In 1910, Baker enrolled at Princeton University as a member of the Class of 1914. Along with six other classmates from St. Paul's, he lived in a house at 82 Nassau Street in Princeton . He joined the school's hockey, football, and baseball teams in his freshman year. The university's rules stated that students could only play two varsity sports , so Baker played outfield for

10881-519: The sky and proclaims, "I know myself . . . but that is all." I don't know what it is in me or that comes to me when I start to write. I am half feminine—at least my mind is.... Even my feminine characters are feminine Scott Fitzgeralds. —F. Scott Fitzgerald, 1935 Most of the characters are drawn from Fitzgerald's life, although he often created composites and imbued many of the female characters with his own personality traits and thoughts. Since childhood, F. Scott Fitzgerald aspired to become

10998-466: The slogan, "A Novel About Flappers Written For Philosophers," the initial printing of 3,000 copies sold out in three days. Although not among the ten best-selling novels of the year, the 23-year-old F. Scott Fitzgerald's first novel proved to be his most popular work and became a cultural sensation across the United States, making him a household name. The book went through twelve printings in 1920 and 1921, totaling 49,075 copies. Despite this success,

11115-462: The sport." When Princeton opened their hockey arena in 1921, it was named the Hobey Baker Memorial Rink . At St. Paul's, hockey players compete for an award known as "Hobey's Stick". Inside the bar of the Nassau Inn in Princeton is a photo of Baker flanked by two other famous Princeton athletes, Bill Bradley and Dick Kazmaier . The Ivy Club, of which Baker was a member, has had a painting of him in

11232-504: The story of the youth of our generation" and to put himself "in the middle as a sort of observer and conscious factor". After obtaining a brief leave from the army in February 1918, Fitzgerald continued work on his unpublished manuscript at the University Cottage Club 's library in Princeton. Eighty-one pages of this revised manuscript later appeared in the final version of This Side of Paradise . In March 1918, Fitzgerald gave

11349-463: The streets of New York City and weeping when he realized he that he would never be as happy again. " This Side of Paradise was the flaming skyrocket of its season... [Fitzgerald's] photograph appeared in all of the exclusive journals as the picture of the hope of young America, the first person to turn the spotlight on the flapper in the back seat on a lonely road..." —Fanny Butcher, The Chicago Tribune , 1925 " This Side of Paradise focused

11466-604: The streets, stopping automobiles to tell friends and acquaintances about it⁠—my novel This Side of Paradise was accepted for publication," he recalled, "I paid off my terrible small debts, bought a suit, and woke up every morning with a world of ineffable top-loftiness and promise." After Scott informed Zelda of his novel's upcoming publication, a shocked Zelda replied contritely: "I hate to say this, but I don't think I had much confidence in you at first.... It's so nice to know you really can do things". This Side of Paradise debuted on March 26, 1920. Advertised in newspapers with

11583-433: The thought of the whole nation on the problems of 'flappers and parlor snakes' which it had known before simply as its daughters and sons. Some of the old-lady magazines are still debating these problems with tiresome gravity." —Ralph Coghlan, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch , 1925 Upon its publication, Fitzgerald's This Side of Paradise caused a cultural sensation that sparked societal debate, and overnight, he became

11700-417: The trenches, would become the next Rupert Brooke , a posthumously famous poet killed during World War I. "Though Scott Fitzgerald is still alive it has a literary value," Leslie wrote to Scribner's on May 6, 1918, "Of course when he is killed, it will also have a commercial value." Upon reading Fitzgerald's draft of The Romantic Egotist , Scribner's editor Max Perkins urged his superiors to publish

11817-670: The upcoming younger generation and to bring forth a new age in America. Both the upper-class and working-class men in the car denounce his views, but when Amory discovers that the upper-class man is the father of a Princeton classmate who died in World War ;I, they reconcile. Amory amicably parts ways with his travel companions, and the upper-class man tells him: "Good luck to you and bad luck to your theories." As he approaches Princeton at midnight, Amory recognizes his inherent selfishness and realizes that transcending, not avoiding, this trait

11934-545: The upstairs lounge, [Fitzgerald] announced that he was going to jump out of the window. No one objected; on the contrary, it was pointed out that the windows were French and ideally suited for jumping, which seemed to cool his ardor." Despite Zelda's rejection, Fitzgerald hoped that his success as an author might change her mind. He told a friend, "I wouldn't care if she died, but I couldn't stand to have anybody else marry her." In July 1919, Fitzgerald quit his advertising job and returned to St. Paul. Returning to his hometown as

12051-490: The wise. — Rupert Brooke , Tiare Tahiti (1914) In the wake of Fitzgerald's rejection by Ginevra two years prior, his subsequent rejection by Zelda further dispirited him. Unable to earn a successful living, Fitzgerald carried a revolver daily while contemplating suicide, and he threatened to jump to his death from a window ledge of the Yale Club . According to biographer Andrew Turnbull , "one day, drinking martinis in

12168-535: The work nevertheless became popularly and inaccurately associated with the wild collegiate atmosphere of post-war 1920s America immortalized in John Held, Jr. 's satirical drawings. With this debut novel, critics touted Fitzgerald as the first writer to turn the national spotlight upon the so-called Jazz Age generation , especially the flappers . In contrast to the older Lost Generation to which Gertrude Stein posited that Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway belonged,

12285-417: The yellowish moss." In the novel's final pages, Fitzgerald altered Zelda's neo-Confederate sentiments to refer to Union soldiers instead of Confederates. Fitzgerald sent the revised manuscript to Scribner's on September 4, 1919. Although the manuscript again impressed editor Max Perkins who wished to publish the novel, senior executives at the publishing house again disagreed with Perkins and disliked

12402-516: Was a member of three national championship teams, for football in 1911 and hockey in 1912 and 1914, and helped the St. Nicholas Club win a national amateur championship in 1915. Baker graduated from Princeton in 1914 and worked for J.P. Morgan Bank until he enlisted in the United States Army Air Service . During World War I he served with the 103rd and the 13th Aero Squadrons before being promoted to captain and named commander of

12519-442: Was a new generation, shouting the old cries, learning the old creeds, through a revery of long days and nights; destined finally to go out into that dirty gray turmoil to follow love and pride; a new generation dedicated more than the last to the fear of poverty and the worship of success; grown up to find all Gods dead, all wars fought, all faiths in man shaken. —F. Scott Fitzgerald, This Side of Paradise (1920) Amory Blaine,

12636-471: Was able to perform one-legged stunts within minutes. He once entered St. Paul's annual cross-country race for fun and won, defeating some of the school's most proficient runners. At the age of fifteen he was named the school's best athlete for his skill in hockey, football, baseball, tennis, swimming, and track. Most of his former classmates recalled their time at St. Paul's with Baker solely by his athletic achievements. Alfred Baker lost much of his savings in

12753-664: Was at Ottawa's Dey's Arena against the University of Ottawa on February 28, 1914, for the Intercollegiate Hockey Championship of America. Ottawa defeated Princeton by a 3–2 score. Princeton won the 1914 national championship after they finished with a record of ten wins and three losses. Statistics were not kept of his time at Princeton, but biographer Emil Salvini estimated Baker to have scored over 120 goals and 100 assists in three years, an average of three goals and three assists per game. As well as skill, Baker

12870-489: Was awarded a varsity letter in football five times; combined with the three letters he earned in hockey, his total was the most that could be earned at Princeton at the time. It was during the 1913–14 hockey season, Baker's senior year, that his most famous game with Princeton took place. On January 24, they played Harvard at the Boston Arena . Initially the favorite to win, Princeton had a setback as one of its star players

12987-678: Was eager to get into the front lines and fight. Owing to a lack of aircraft supplies, Baker was stuck in Paris, and doubted he would ever get to the front. While in Paris, he was happy to continue seeing Scott, who had enlisted as a nurse and worked at a hospital in France. Baker was finally sent to the front in April and assigned to the 103d Aero Squadron , formed from former members of the Lafayette Escadrille and Lafayette Flying Corps in January 1918. Baker helped to bring down an enemy plane for

13104-536: Was established in 1981 and is awarded annually to the best player in NCAA hockey. The Hobey Baker Legends of College Hockey Award was also created that year and is given to the "all-time great contributors to the game of college hockey" each year. Since 1950, Princeton has awarded the Hobey Baker Trophy to the "freshman hockey player who, among his classmates, in play, sportsmanship and influence has contributed most to

13221-452: Was injured and unable to play, and another was suspended. Baker was repeatedly called offside , as he was too fast for the two replacement Princeton players (players were required to stay behind the puck-carrier at the time). In the "sudden death" overtime, after sixty minutes of play, Baker was not even breathing heavily. The game was the longest college hockey game played up to that point. The final hockey game of Baker's Princeton career

13338-421: Was introduced to ice hockey . Malcolm Gordon , one of the first people to help develop hockey in the United States, was the coach of the school team and recognized Baker's skill. Baker was known by his classmates to be an exceptionally fast and agile skater. He spent nights skating on frozen ponds to improve his ability to move with the puck while not looking down . Baker was named to the school's varsity team at

13455-439: Was known for his sportsmanship. In a hockey game against Harvard on January 22, 1913, Baker recorded the only penalty of his collegiate career, for slashing ; Princeton lost the game 5–4 in overtime. He visited the dressing rooms of opponents after every game to shake hands with each player. In early 1914, Baker graduated from Princeton, majoring in history, politics, and economics, and finished with above-average grades. He

13572-484: Was named the school's best football player, hockey player, and all-round athlete and the man who had done the most for Princeton. The football team had posted a record of twenty wins, three losses, and four ties in Baker's three seasons as a member; the hockey team fared equally well with a record of twenty wins and seven losses. By the end of his football career at Princeton, he had two notable achievements: he had never fumbled

13689-542: Was refused an extension of his time in France. On December 21, 1918, Baker received orders to return to the United States. Reluctant to leave France and return to his life in America, he decided to take a final flight at his squadron's airfield in Toul . As he went for his own plane, the mechanic brought out a recently repaired one instead, in need of a test flight. The other pilots remonstrated with Baker, but he maintained that as commanding officer he could not let anyone else test

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