Brain Snacks: Tasty Tidbits of Knowledge
Jimmy Buffet wrote a song called "The Diamond as Big as the Ritz." Take one look at these lyrics and realize that he totally would have gotten an "A" in AP English. He nails this one.
We can see the influence of Fitzgerald's trip to Montana not only in "The Diamond as Big as the Ritz," but also in The Great Gatsby. Gatsby's benefactor, Dan Cody, is described as "a product of the Nevada silver fields, of every rush for metal since seventy-five," a man made "many times a millionaire" by "the transactions in Montana copper."
Fitzgerald was paid only $300 for "The Diamond as Big as the Ritz" in 1922, the equivalent of about $3,800 today. Compare this to another of his famous stories, "Babylon Revisited," for which he received $4,000 in 1931 – the equivalent of over $50,000 today. (Source)
F. Scott Fitzgerald was a big fan of American author Edith Wharton. When she invited him over to tea, he got drunk and told inappropriate, licentious stories. Wharton wrote in her diary that it was "awful." (Source)