TLS signed “Scott Fitzgerald,” one page, 8.5 x 11, October 22, 1936. Letter to his secretary Isabel Owens, written from the Grove Park Inn in Asheville, North Carolina. In full: "This check is for $300. That still leaves me in the red with you. The plan now is that I am going North without fail for Thanksgiving and spend at least one day in Baltimore trying to get things in better shape. If I have to have an all-day session with Ed Poe we will arrange some meeting that does not conflict with that, and I will stay two days. There is a lot I want to talk over with you. It would be nice if you could tell me where certain articles are that I stored: my wife's skating skirt Scotty has been wearing, and my wife's two pairs of skiing boots—the tall ones from Quebec and the ones from Switzerland—are both in heavy demand and I have not even an idea as to where I packed them, though I think they are in one of those miscellaneous trunks. There are other lost articles: (can't you hear me say 'full colon'?) one is a part of a silver set that I think at the last moment I put into storage. These are things we will have to go over when I see you. It will save time if you will in the meantime have gotten in touch with the Storage Company and perhaps have been able to make a visit there to see that in that gray bandbox of Zelda's there are the brush and mirror…P.S. The money to the amount of $5,000 or so, that I am borrowing should be in the bank within 6 days. In any case, find out from your friend if it has been deposited before you put in this check. Unless there is some new complication that I don't know anything about, there is no reason why you should not cash it on the date mentioned. If there is any holdover, wire me collect and I will wire you back without delay because I know you need the money as quickly as possible." In fine condition, with a light paperclip impression to the top edge.
Fitzgerald spent time at the Grove Park Inn, situated in Asheville, North Carolina, during the summers of 1935 and 1936, recuperating from ill health in the clean mountain air. He rented two rooms at a time—one for sleeping and one for writing—opting for basic accommodations that overlooked the main entrance so that he could observe the comings and goings of beautiful women. While staying there in 1936, he helped to oversee his wife Zelda's transition from the Phipps Clinic at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore to the Highland Hospital in Asheville. This letter portrays his loving emotional bond with Zelda as he aims to have some prized possessions sent to make her stay more comfortable. The letter also exposes the financial turmoil that Fitzgerald found himself in as he struggled with writer's block. A scarce and desirable letter from a tumultuous period of Fitzgerald's life.
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