Breaking, sad news:
NEW YORK -- Getty
"Catcher in the Rye" author J.D. Salinger has died at age 91 in New Hampshire.
The author's son, in a statement from the author's literary representative, says Salinger died of natural causes at his home. He had lived for decades in self-imposed isolation in the small, remote house in Cornish, N.H.
There's an extensive and pretty good tribute up on the NY Times. They mentioned in the article that although he'd broken his hip last spring, he'd been in excellent health until a sudden decline after the new year. Importantly, Salinger's agent noted that:
...He was not in any pain before or at the time of his death."
From the USA Today:
The Catcher in the Rye, with its immortal teenage protagonist, the twisted, rebellious Holden Caulfield, came out in 1951, a time of anxious, Cold War conformity and the dawn of modern adolescence. The Book-of-the-Month Club, which made Catcher a featured selection, advised that for "anyone who has ever brought up a son" the novel will be "a source of wonder and delight — and concern."
More background from the Wiki:
The success of The Catcher in the Rye led to public attention and scrutiny: Salinger became reclusive, publishing new work less frequently. He followed Catcher with a short story collection, Nine Stories (1953), a collection of a novella and a short story, Franny and Zooey (1961), and a collection of two novellas, Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour: An Introduction (1963). His last published work, a novella entitled "Hapworth 16, 1924," appeared in The New Yorker on June 19, 1965.
Thanks to Steveningen for reminding us of this beautiful excerpt from J.D. Salinger's beloved and immortal book, The Catcher in the Rye:
"Anyway, I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody's around - nobody big, I mean - except me. And I'm standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff - I mean if they're running and they don't look where they're going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That's all I do all day. I'd just be the catcher in the rye and all. I know it's crazy, but that's the only thing I'd really like to be."
UPDATE: Via KroneckerD - For all of you Salinger fans (and I'm cognizant that not everyone is - though Franny and Zooey will always hold a special place in my heart), BBC provides this little tease:
Although many years have passed since the publication of any work by Salinger, friends and visitors to his home have revealed that he has a large safe containing at least 15 completed manuscripts.
Condolences to his family, friends and multitudes of fans.