J. D. Salinger
Second marriage, family, and spiritual beliefs
citation needed] In February 1955, at the age of 36, Salinger married Claire Douglas (b. 1933), a Radcliffe student (her father was the art critic Robert Langton Douglas). They had two children, Margaret (also known as Peggy – born December 10, 1955) and Matthew (born February 13, 1960). Margaret Salinger wrote in her memoir Dream Catcher that she believes her parents would not have married, nor would she have been born, had her father not read the teachings of Lahiri Mahasaya, a guru of Paramahansa Yogananda, which brought the possibility of enlightenment to those following the path of the "householder" (a married person with children). After their marriage, Salinger and Claire were initiated into the path of Kriya yoga in a small store-front Hindu temple in Washington, D.C., during the summer of 1955. They received a mantra and breathing exercise to practice for ten minutes twice a day.
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