Bye, J.D.

J.D. Salinger died yesterday. Who knew he was still alive? Not me--I swear I saw his obit in July 1976, in the Post next to a bicentennial fireworks story. Ninety-one years old, was Jerome David, an American icon who had vanished before our very eyes even as we kept staring at him.

Salinger was a god among writers, not for his style or originality, but for the amazing fortune he had of writing what he did, when he did. The Catcher in the Rye was his only book, a slender volume of 276 pages describing the coming of age of Holden Caulfield, a teen-ager who decides to run away before being expelled from school. It's frankly not that great a book but it somehow caught America's eye when published in 1951, and Salinger was catapulted to fame rivaling that of Mark Twain, Hemingway, Whitman, and a host of better and more prolific authors. In the mafia that is literature, with his one killing he became a made man.

He never wrote another book. His short stories were published by the New Yorker and some other mags. His last story, Hapworth 16, 1924, appeared in 1965. He never taught, never attended a writers' conference, never authored a book review. He was not given the Pulitzer. He did not play in a rock and roll band or narrate his work for Books on Tape. In fact, after Catcher, he pretty much never did anything again. He spent the rest of his life in Cornish, New Hampshire, avoiding scrutiny and fleeing others. He had a seven month affair with a woman who later reported that she left because the sex was bad.

He had an unpleasant surprise with Hollywood's interpretation of one of his tales, and steadfastly balked at Catcher being made into a film, even as stars vied for the part. According to Wikepedia, Jerry Lewis wanted to play Holden, despite not having read the novel until he was in his thirties. Celebrities ranging from Marlon Brando and Jack Nicholson to Tobey Maguire and Leonardo DiCaprio tried to make a film adaptation. In an interview with Premiere magazine, John Cusack commented that his one regret about turning twenty-one was that he had become too old to play Holden Caulfield.

J.D. wanted no part of it, though now that he's gone, the novel will almost certainly be sold to the highest bidder.

His book influenced a generation of popular fiction writers, as did his subject matter. Coming-of-age was treated spectacularly in Earl Thompson's trilogy (A Garden of Sands, Tattoo, and the unfinished The Devil to Pay) and well by Michener (The Fires of Spring), Uris and a host of others.

No doubt Salinger must have thought Catcher would be a hard act to follow. That may explain why he never tried for a sequel or prequel. Thank God for that.

I have the edition with the brown cover and yellow lettering. I've seen it in more homes than I can recall, and my local librarian says she tries to keep seven or eight copies on the shelves, but it's one of the books most often not returned. I've read it in French and in English.

Great work, J.D. . Rest well.