Violet Stockton and the Making of Minnie Bibble

Abstract

Violet Stockton, who F. Scott Fitzgerald met in 1908 when she came to St. Paul to visit her grandparents, was one of Fitzgerald's lesser-known muses, but she is prominently mentioned in his Thoughtbook and played a central role at that point in his life. This article provides biographical information about her and her family and speculates about the influence she may have had on the Minnie Bibble character in Fitzgerald's Basil Duke Lee stories and on Fitzgerald's decision to attend Princeton University. That thirty-two years after their first meeting Violet Stockton appears on a list Fitzgerald compiled of his “Fixations” certainly makes her relevant to anyone interested in his infatuations and inspirations.