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 died of natural causes at his home in New Hampshire on January 27, 2010. He was 91. Salinger's literary representative told "The New York Times" that the writer had broken his hip in May 2009, but that "his health had been excellent until a rather sudden decline after the new year." The representative believed that Salinger's death was not a painful one. His third wife and widow, Colleen O'Neill Zakrzeski Salinger, and Salinger's son Matt became the executors of his estate. In a contributor's note Salinger gave to "Harper's Magazine" in 1946, he wrote: "I almost always write about very