Jerome David Salinger, better know as J. D. Salinger, Was born in New York City, on the days of January 1, 1919. His father was Sol Salinger, and his mother, Miriam Jillich. His mother was Scotch-Irish and changed her name from Marie, to Miriam to fit better into her new family. Sol Salinger's father was an Orthodox Judaism rabbi, born in Cleveland, Ohio, and abandoned the faith to become a ham importer. His sister, Doris, was eight years older than him, and played a key part several of Salinger's later characters.

Following the role of a later character Holden Caulfield, Salinger started in a public grammar school, then enrolled in McBurney School, a private school in Manhattan, along with several others in the area. Young Salinger did well in school, but his weakness was in arithmetic. Salinger showed an early interest in drama, voted most popular actor at a 1930 summer camp in Harrison, Maine. Our subject later belonged to the Valley

In 1934 Salinger enrolled in Valley Forge Military Academy. There his IQ was tested at 115 points, an above average score for his age. Salinger scored well in his classes, averaging a B in his studies. Our author found a place for himself as a literary editor for the academy yearbook his senior year. "While it cannot how much was contributed anonymously to this book, Salinger signed a three-stanza poetic tribute that has since been set to music and is still sung by the cadets at their last formation before graduation" (French 22). Working under his sheets by flashlight, Salinger began writing short stories during this time. Salinger graduated from Valley Forge Military Academy in June of 1936.

Autumn of 1938, Salinger enrolled in Ursinus College. For the following nine weeks he wrote a column in the local weekly newspaper. Salinger's first publication was "The Young Folks," which was printed in Story in March of 1940. This evidentially got some attention to Salinger, because later the next year, Collier's, Esquire, and New Yorker all wanted a piece too. Salinger had finally reached the well-paying mass magazines.

In 1946, Salinger's second Holden Caulfield accepted for publication, but mysteriously withdrawn by Salinger. The next year, our author redeemed himself with a debut in Mademoiselle. Published was "A Young Girl in 1941 with No Waist at All."

"The Samuel Goldwyn studios had converted "Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut," to "My Foolish Heart," an "adult" romance staring popular Susan Hayward, and Dana Andrews."(French 27). The following year was also a landmark for Salinger with the July 16 publication of The Catcher in the Rye. "In contsast to the selfless hero, Salinger has created a selfless heroine."(Belcher and Lee 109). This Timeless book was hardly read until two years after its printing. On October 21, the up-and-coming book reached its peak of forth for only twenty-nine weeks.

Salinger turned eighty years old last month, and still lives today in Cornish, New Hampshire. Although he is not as touchy about the press, interviews with him are extremely rare. His son, now thirty-nine, resides in Houston, Texas.

Salinger was interviewed by a schoolgirl from a nearby town's newspaper. This interview was intended to be rather low-key and apparently the Eagle, or the interviewer, sold it to a major publication. Salinger was furious and didn't speak to the press again until 1974.

While everyone who has had an American Literature class has heard of J. D. Salinger, how many understand him? How many people even questioned if they were a catcher in the rye or not? "...is Holden a catcher?"(Westbrook 211) Did Salinger move someone to think about the differences and similarities between religions, or which one makes the most sense? I can not answer all of these questions, but there is one reoccurring fact. Salinger is devoted to the preservation of innocence. One might guess that he admires youth. "It is Phobe the playing child whi keeps him from falling to entire destruction."(Hamilton 24). Like when Holden saw the f-word written on the wall, he had to clean it up, and Zooey trying to protect his sister from many problems of the world. Salinger sees youth as perpetual innocence, and will be sadly missed when he dies.

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Approximate Word count = 2294
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)