J.D. Salinger

I would be remiss if I didn't mention the passing of J.D.Salinger on January 29, 2010. I was rather surprised that his death didn't seem to make any grand headlines, but maybe that is what happens when you live until you are 91, are reclusive, and haven't published anything since 1965. Of course, we know J.D. Salinger for writing "Catcher in the Rye" which became popular within 2 months of its publication and spent 30 weeks on the New York Times Best Seller list. By the 1950's the title became the book adolescents had to buy, "the indispensable manual from which cool styles of disaffectation could be borrowed. In 1979 one book-length study of censorship noted that The Catcher in the Rye "had the dubious distinction of being at once the most frequently censored book across the nation and the second-most frequently taught novel in public high schools. The book remains widely read; as of 2004, the novel was selling about 250,000 copies per year. If you want to read more about Mr. Salinger try this New York Times article at http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/29/books/29salinger.html or http://salinger.org/index.php?title=Main_Page