J.D. Salinger Dead at Age 91

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J.D. Salinger Dead at Age 91

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"It is my rather subversive opinion that a writer's feelings of anonymity-obscurity are the second most valuable property on loan to him during his working years." --Salinger, in Franny and Zoey

The reclusive author of "The Catcher in the Rye" died of natural causes in his home Cornish, NH.

Like many people, I first read about the exploits of one Holden Caulfield when I was in high school. I liked the book because I liked the character-- like many great stories, it's always about the characters, and your relation to them; I sometimes felt the way Caulfield  did about people (and continue to feel the same way to this day...!). The book had many fans, including Mark David Chapman, who used it as the muse to kill former Beatle John Lennon. From that moment, the book took on a whole new meaning.

People have been talking for years about making a film version of "Catcher", which would be silly since Holden Caulfield hated movies and movie stars. If it was to be made into a film, it would have to be such an anti-film that it may not be watchable by many people.

His last story was "Hapworth 16, 1928" which appeared in The New Yorker in 1965. His final interview was with the Baton Rouge Advocate in 1980, in which he said "I love to write and I assure you I write regularly. But I write for myself, for my own pleasure. And I want to be left alone to do it."