J. D. Salinger J. D. Salinger Jerome David Salinger (; January 1, 1919 January 27, 2010) was an American writer known for his widely read novel, "The Catcher in the Rye". Following his early success publishing short stories and "The Catcher in the Rye", Salinger led a very private life for more than a half-century. He published his final original work in 1965 and gave his last interview in 1980. Salinger was raised in Manhattan and began writing short stories while in secondary school. Several were published in "Story" magazine in the early 1940s before he began serving in World War II. In
J. D. Salinger began to publish with less frequency. After the 1953 publication of "Nine Stories", he published only four stories through the rest of the decade; two in 1955 and one each in 1957 and 1959. In February 1955, at the age of 36, Salinger married Claire Douglas, 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