Influences on his career

While at Newman preparatory school in New Jersey, Fitzgerald met a Catholic priest that became a secondary father figure to him. Father Sigourney Fay had such an impact on Fitzgerald's literary ambitions that he dedicated his first book to Fay (Tate 297).
Fitzgerald received a great deal of commentary on his work from many great authors, such as George Jean Nathan, Gertrude Stein and T. S. Eliot (Mangum 953).
Fitzgerald's most personal influence was that of his wife, Zelda (Prigozy 4).