J.D. Salinger, Author of 'The Catcher in the Rye,' Is Dead at 91

J.D. Salinger was notoriously reclusive in his later years, choosing to spend the his post-fame life in the seclusion provided by New Hampshire granite and wood. He did not give interviews and he did not engage with the outside world, literary or otherwise. He did, however, periodically visit the Baker-Berry Library at Dartmouth College -- specifically, he would visit the News Room, a relatively out-of-the-way section of the first floor of the library where he would sit for hours and read newspapers and other news publications, reportedly. I too have spent many, many hours in the News Room throughout my Dartmouth career. I've worked there since freshman year, before I was let go and then the position was cut from the staff (in that order). I know I must have seen him or helped him with something or spoken with him, but I never knew it was him. And now he is gone, and breathing feels more shallow. The frailty of life is at once overwhelming and strangely close to home.

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From: Sorority sister

Date: 28 Jan 2010 13:40:52 -0500
Subject: News Alert: J.D. Salinger, Author of 'The Catcher in the Rye,' Is Dead at 91
To: Sorority list, including me

the publications roomwill never be the same.....

--- Forwarded message from "NYTimes.com News Alert" ---

Date:      Thu, 28 Jan 2010 13:17:45 -0500
From: "NYTimes.com News Alert"
Subject:   News Alert: J.D. Salinger, Author of 'The Catcher in the Rye,' Is Dead at 91
Reply-to: nytdirect@nytimes.com

Breaking News Alert
The New York Times
Thu, January 28, 2010 -- 1:17 PM ET
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J.D. Salinger, Author of 'The Catcher in the Rye,' Is Dead at 91

J. D. Salinger, who was thought at one time to be the most
important American writer to emerge since World War II but
who then turned his back on success and adulation, has died
in Cornish, N.H., where he lived in seclusion for more than
50 years, his son told The Associated Press. He was 91.

Mr. Salinger's literary reputation rests on a slender but
enormously influential body of published work: the novel "The
Catcher in the Rye," the collection "Nine Stories" and two
compilations, each with two long stories about the fictional
Glass family: "Franny and Zooey" and "Raise High the Roof
Beam, Carpenters and Seymour: An Introduction."

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