J.D. SalingerJerome David Salinger

• Born in Manhattan, New York on Jan. 1, 1919

• Father, Sol Salinger –Jewish father of Polish descent

• Mother, Marie Jillich, a half-Scottish, half-Irish Christian mother

Education

• Valley Forge Military Academy – graduated in 1936 – interest in writing began as a teenager and he immersed himself in his work after graduation

• New York University – attended, no degree• Columbia University – attended, no degree,

however, he enrolled in a fiction-writing class instructed by Whit Burnett, an editor of Story Magazine, who appraised Salinger’s short story, “The Young Folks,” as a work of great talent and published it in 1940.

Next Seven Years• 1942-1946 – staff sergeant for U.S. army, WWII,

served overseas• Continue to be published in periodicals such as

Colliers, Esquire, and The Saturday Evening Post • With the publication of ‘A Perfect Day for

Bananafish” in 1948, his work appeared almost exclusively in The New Yorker: Why?

-Salinger had difficulty dealing with revisions other periodicals imposed on his work-Salinger signed a contract allowing The New Yorker right of first refusal to any new work

Catcher in the Rye

• Released in 1951• Received mixed reviews• Salinger ultimately hailed as a brilliant writer

who was keyed into the minds and emotions of adolescents with a crisp portrayal of realistic dialogue and a shrewd understanding of the tensions of life in post-WWII America.

• Most ardent fans were college students living in the wake of WWII

Marriage• 1945 -1947 – married briefly to Sylvia

Welter, a German woman he met while working towards “de-Nazification”-soon dissolved- turbulent marriage

• 1955 – married Claire Douglass, had two children together, Margaret (1955), and Matt (1960)

• Throughout this time, Salinger experimented with various spiritual paths, among them, Kriya Yoga and Christian Science

1988 – married Colleen O’Neill

1960’s• Salinger grew increasingly reclusive, halting

nearly all publication of his work, and retreating into his home in New Hampshire

His seclusion only heightened popular interest.

Last Formal Interview• 1980 – his life came under speculation by fans and

critics alike• Several Tell-All books were released:– In Search of J.D. Salinger: A Writing Life (1935-1965) by

Ian Hamilton (1988) – an unauthorized biography paraphrasing the contents of letters written by Salinger

– At Home in the World: A Memoir (1999) written by Joyce Maynard (a woman 35 years his junior with whom he had a relationship in 1972

– Dream Catcher: A Memoir – released in 2000, written by his daughter, Margaret Salinger

Collection of Short Stories

• Three Collections:– Nine Stories (1953)– Franny and Zooey (1961)– Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and

Seymour: An Introduction (1963)

Novella

Hapworth 16, 1924 (1965)

Final Curtain - January 27, 2010

• J. D. Salinger, Literary Recluse, Dies at 91 • By CHARLES McGRATH

• Published: January 28, 2010 • J. D. Salinger, who was thought at one time to be the

most important American writer to emerge since World War II but who then turned his back on success and adulation, becoming the Garbo of letters, famous for not wanting to be famous, died on Wednesday at his home in Cornish, N.H., where he had lived in seclusion for more than 50 years. He was 91.