If Fitzgerald were alive today, he would not recognise St Paul Academy, the private all-boys school he attended in a small building on 25 Dale Street close to Summit Avenue. The Academy moved elsewhere in 1931 and is now co-educational, larger and located on Cleveland Avenue. St Paul Academy is the school where I taught middle and upper school students in the English/Humanities department during my own educational career. Some of the short stories he wrote has been included in the middle school English classes.
I never really cared for this particular statue of F. Scott located on the steps of the Dale Street original Academy building; I much prefer the one in Rice Park in downtown St. Paul. Whenever I am in the area, I stop to chat with him and tell him how much I enjoyed teaching his short stories and The Great Gatsby in American Literature.
This sculpture makes him look snooty and unreachable. Will you show the other sculpture you mentioned?
ReplyDeleteI get the feeling that the artist was trying to make him look like a dreamer with this statue. The other statue is more down to earth.
ReplyDeleteKate, AZ license plates are not usually that color. I'm sure that is special because of the Phoenix Suns logo. The designated plates are all different colors from pink for breast cancer to blue & gold for POW's.
Something about the style's a bit off putting.
ReplyDeleteHe also looks uncomfortable with one arm braced behind him.
ReplyDeleteHe is a dreamer, love his stories. A couple weeks ago, I picked up a copy of The Great Gatsby at the charity shop for 25 cent. I read it a long time ago and will read it again. A great story!
ReplyDeleteWould love to see the other sculpture you mentioned but I do like this one.
I agree. It's an odd position and it doesn't seem to convey him as either thoughtful or dreaming.
ReplyDeleteIt is a dreamer I think too.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to think that he is deep in thought or something like that.
ReplyDeleteIt's great that you actually taught there, and that some of Fitzgerald's work was part of the curriculum.