Today’s New York Times spotlights F. Scott Fitzgerald and Westport’s connection to his “The Great Gatsby.”
Westporters Robert Stevens Williams (l) and Richard “Deej” Webb in front of the Fitzgerald House at 244 Compo Road South. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com
The occasion is next month’s publication of “Boats Against the Current: The Honeymoon Summer of Scott and Zelda: Westport, Connecticut 1920.”
The book by writer Richard “Deej” Webb Jr. is a companion to “Gatsby in Connecticut: The Untold Story,” a documentary he and filmmaker Robert Steven Williams (both Westporters) have been working on for more than six years. It will air on public television in the fall.
The Times and other publications over the years have highlighted the debate among Gatsby aficionados over where the novel is primarily set.
Some scholars argue it is Great Neck, Long Island that inspired the fictional setting of West Egg.
But the two Westporters say their work should put to rest doubts that the Westport house Scott Fitzgerald rented with his wife Zelda on Compo Road South inspired the author’s iconic novel.
Three years ago, the two held a screening of a rough cut of their film in Fairfield, and it drew a capacity crowd. (See WestportNow June 8, 2015 and June 4, 2015)
