We are excited to welcome exhibit collaborator and writer Sue Hoover Epstein for an upcoming presentation on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s midwestern muses: an in-depth look into the dramatic story of “the real-life Daisy Buchanan and Jordan Baker” of The Great Gatsby. Sue’s fascinating research contributed greatly to the History Center’s current exhibition, Behind the Glamour: Inside (and Outside) F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Lake Forest.

Sue will discuss how Fitzgerald reached back to people in his past to create these memorable characters, the fascinating and short-lived relationship between the midwestern socialites, as well as Fitzgerald’s heartbreak when Ginevra King “threw him over”—one of the most seminal experiences in his life, and one that he never got over.

Sue Hoover Epstein is an Editor and Writer based in California. For the past decade, Sue has been working on a group biography tentatively entitled The Big Four: The Debutantes Who Made F. Scott Fitzgerald Famous, focusing on the quartet of socialites from Lake Forest, IL—Sue’s home town—whose lives fascinated both Fitzgerald and most of America during the first half of the 20th Century. Sue has previously worked as a Magazine Editor for Women’s Sports Magazine as well as Managing Editor of Dossier based in Washington, D.C., as well as a prominent freelance writer. Sue holds an MA in English Literature and BA in Creative Writing from Stanford University.