In 1925, Fitzgerald wrote a short story titled “The Rich Boy.” In 1926, it was published in Red Book magazine and included what became a very popular collection of Fitzgerald's early short stories, titled All the Sad Young Men.
"Let me tell you about the very rich. They are different from you and me. They possess and enjoy early, and it does something to them, makes them soft where we are hard, and cynical where we are trustful, in a way that, unless you were born rich, it is very difficult to understand. They think, deep in their hearts, that they are better than we are because we had to discover the compensations and refuges of life for ourselves. Even when they enter deep into our world or sink below us, they still think that they are better than we are. They are different."
F. Scott Fitzgerald was born into a middle class family in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1896. Although initially successful as a writer, the Great Depression made it difficult for his books to be sold. Even a move to Los Angeles did not improve his finances, leading to years of alcoholism. Eventually he recovered, but passed away in 1940 due to a heart attack, at the age of 44.
HIs best known novel is "The Great Gatsby", and it has been made into a movie twice, the most recent starring Robert Redford.
There is no shortage of books about the wealthier members of our society, but two of them are especially relevant - and they have an unusual connection.
The first book is "Vanderbilt :The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty", which was written by Anderson Cooper. His mother was Gloria Vanderbilt, and she was the last Vanderbilt to live in "the Breakers" in Rhode Island. His book details the successes, and failures, of the greater Vanderbilt clan.
I've been in the Biltmore estate in North Carolina, which was built by George Washington Vanderbilt in the closing years of the 19th century. At the time the 250 room home was built, he was in his 20's, and unmarried. Even today, it is still the largest single family home in America. Although it is no longer used as a residence, it is open for tours.
The other book is about the family of a man who was one of the richest men in America - but few people have ever heard of him. His name is W.A. Clark, and his story can be found in "Empty Mansions", by Bill Dedman and Paul Clark Newell Jr.
Both Cornelius Vanderbilt and W.A. Clark owned railroads, but the "unusual connection" is to a ship.
One of the Vanderbilt family members was on the Titanic - and he went down with the shop.
W.A. Clark and his family had tickets for the 2nd voyage of the Titanic. For obvious reasons, they never got to use them.
W.A. Clark was married twice. After the death of his first wife, he married a much younger woman, who gave birth to two daughters. The oldest daughter (Andre) died of meningitis when she was 16, and her younger sister (Hugette) inherited a vast fortune.
(Because Andre loved girl scouts, her father established the first (and only) girl scout camp in the country in her honor)
Hugette was married briefly, but spent most of her life as a single woman.
Although she owned mansions in Santa Barbara and Connecticut (in addition to three apartments on 5th Avenue in New York), she spent the last twenty years of her life in a hospital room in New York City - even though she was in good health.
She lived in the Santa Barbara home only a short time, and she never lived in (or furnished) the Connecticut home. For most of her life, the apartments on 5th Avenue also were not used very much.
She was an avid collector of art and dolls, as well as jewelry. She also owned 6 very rare Stradivarius violins.
Throughout her life, she was very generous, and gave vast sums of money to a lengthy list of friends, some of whom she never met.
She lived to be 106 years old, but was still very sharp mentally right until the end
W.A. Clark made most of his money from copper, but he also was a successful banker and a railroad owner. In addition, he was largely responsible for the establishment of Las Vegas, which is located in Clark county.
"Empty Mansions" is a book worth reading - and it reaffirms the fact that the rich ARE different,
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