The Origins of The Great Gatsby: An Author Talk with Richard Webb

The Origins of The Great Gatsby: An Author Talk with Richard Webb

Richard "Deej" Webb will discuss his book Boats Against The Current: The Honeymoon of Scott and Zelda as well as the origins of The Great Gatsby in this virtual multimedia presentation.

F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald honeymooned in Westport, Connecticut during the summer of 1920. It was an experience that had a more profound impact on both of their collective works than any other place they lived. Living near the beach, three larger-than-life reclusive multi-millionaires were their neighbors.

Boats Against The Current tells the real story behind the famous novel and its tragic hero, debunking the long-held belief that the book was solely inspired by the Fitzgeralds' time in Great Neck, and it is difficult not to believe that Webb has located the true inspiration for one of the most captivating and iconic characters in American literature, the great Gatsby himself.

This program is a collaboration between The Field Library of Peekskill and the Woodbury Public Library. Hosted on Zoom; free and open to all. Register here: https://bit.ly/3kj9epV. 

Richard "Deej" Webb is an author, an award-winning educator, and an award-winning documentary filmmaker. A graduate of Vanderbilt University, he has taught History for 24 years at both the high school and college levels. A featured presenter in the Connecticut Public Broadcasting Prohibition documentary Connecticut Goes Dry, Webb is also a co-creator and a co-producer with Robert Williams of a documentary film about the Fitzgeralds in Connecticut titled Gatsby In Connecticut, which is a companion to his book.

The book is available through the Westchester Library System.