100 Year Anniversary of
The Great Gatsby

The Real McCoy Behind Fitzgerald's Golden Boy

Say, old sport, you want to know about the connection between that Cincinnati flash George Remus and Scott's golden boy Gatsby? Well, let me tell you, having rubbed elbows with both the real article and the scribbler himself, the resemblance ain't no coincidence.

George Remus - now there was a bird who knew how to work the angles! The fellow made himself the absolute berries during this whole Prohibition hullabaloo. Started out as a perfectly respectable pill-pusher and shyster, but when Uncle Sam decided to go dry, old George saw dollar signs where others saw drought. The cat's pajamas, he was - bought up every distillery and drugstore he could get his mitts on, all legal-like through that medicinal hooch loophole. Before you could say "giggle water," he was the King of the Bootleggers, throwing parties at his Cincinnati palace that'd make Midas himself turn green.

Now, I've seen Scott Fitzgerald at enough speakeasies to know he keeps his ears open for a good yarn. And brother, was Remus ever a story! Both fellows - the real one and the made-up one - they're cut from the same cloth. Self-made swells trying to crash the bluebloods' party, throwing around mazuma like it was confetti, all to get a little respect from the country club set.

But here's the real keen part - Remus had this screwy habit of talking about himself like he wasn't even in the room. "Remus thinks this" and "Remus believes that" - theatrical as a vaudeville act! Sound familiar? That's pure Gatsby, that is.

The timing's too perfect to be jake, if you ask me. When Scott was putting pen to paper on his masterpiece, Remus was front page news from here to Timbuktu. The similarities are thick as thieves - both trying to buy their way into society, both destined for the big fall.

'Course, Scott never came clean about lifting from real life, but any joe with half a brain can see Remus's fingerprints all over that Gatsby character. Take it from someone who knew 'em both - truth really is stranger than fiction, and sometimes fiction ain't so fictional after all.

Be apart of the story,
Join the King's Circle