Culture
Savior of dreams
J.D. Salinger dies at 91
01.02.2010
by Petar Plamenov
J.D. Salinger, the reclusive author of "The Catcher in the Rye," died at 91, his agent said Thursday, raising tantalizing questions over whether the legendary writer might have left behind a hoard of unpublished works.
Salinger died Wednesday of natural causes at his home in New Hampshire, the Harold Ober Associates literary agency in New York said.
Born in 1919, Salinger earned a place as one of the giants of 20th century US fiction. His 1951 tale of teenage rebellion, "The Catcher in the Rye," became a cultural icon, making him rich and famous.
But overwhelmed by his sudden fame, he retreated to a hermit-like existence in Cornish, New Hampshire, publishing his last work in The New Yorker magazine in 1965 and refusing interviews for the last three decades of his life. Fiercely guarding his privacy, he turned to the courts to stop publication of his letters and steadfastly refused offers to sell movie rights to "Catcher." Just last year in July, a US judge suspended the publication of an unauthorized sequel to "Catcher" by Swedish author Fredrik Colting.
Salinger's death has reignited speculation over whether he may have left behind some valuable works which could be published posthumously.
The author himself revealed in a 1980 interview with the Boston Sunday Globe that he was still producing -- albeit not for an audience.
"I love to write, and I assure you I write regularly. But I write for myself and I want to be left absolutely alone to do it," he said.
Salinger wrote literature all of his life, but published only between the years of 1940 and 1965. Nearly all of his stories focus on young people—their frustration, wisdom, optimism, and rage. He created the Glass family, a fictional clan of seven siblings whose exploits were the subject of novellas and short stories, collected in books like Franny and Zooey and Nine Stories. Most memorably, he created Holden Caulfield, the inimitable protagonist of The Catcher in the Rye. Salinger's only full-length novel has sold 65 million copies worldwide and become a classic, handed down by generations of teachers and parents who hope that a new generation will find the inspiration they once did in Holden's howls of outrage. We hope that you do too.
