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 the campaign from Normandy into Germany, Salinger arranged to meet with Ernest Hemingway, a writer who had influenced him and was then working as a war correspondent in Paris. Salinger was impressed with Hemingway's friendliness and modesty, finding him more "soft" than his gruff public persona. Hemingway was impressed by Salinger's writing and remarked: "Jesus, he has a helluva talent." The two writers began corresponding; Salinger wrote Hemingway in July 1946 that their talks were among his few positive memories of the war. Salinger added that he was working on a play about Holden Caulfield, the protagonist of his story