Salinger Page #2

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and that's 'Catcher in the Rye'.

Salinger's father, Solomon,

was the son of a rabbi,

an importer of cheese

and meats - very unkosher.

His mother was Catholic -

her name was Marie,

which she changed to Miriam

to be accepted by

her husband's Jewish family.

He was very down on education.

"Don't believe everything

your professors say.

"They're just giving you

information.

"Get your own information

on your own terms."

I think

that Salinger understood

something about the culture

long before the culture

understood it about itself.

He saw fakes everywhere.

A woman asked Salinger,

"Mr Salinger, what does

the 'J.D.' stand for?"

And he smiled sheepishly and

said, "Juvenile delinquent."

After getting

kicked out of prep school,

his father decided

he needed discipline,

he needed structure,

and he shipped him off

to a military academy.

Valley Forge is important

for two real reasons.

Number one - that's where

Salinger really

got his act together.

And number two - that's where

Salinger first began to write.

Salinger wrote at night

by flashlight under the covers.

He was always writing.

What I have here

is J.D. Salinger's yearbook

from the Valley Forge

Military Academy.

It's an extraordinary item.

He signed it not only

in his own name

but he signed the names of

the characters that he played

in the various plays

in which he performed,

because he wanted

to be an actor.

When he was in high school,

he announced that his ambition

was to succeed Robert Benchley

as the theatre critic

for the 'New Yorker'.

His father thought

it was ridiculous

that he was going to write,

'cause his father

very much wanted him

to join him

in the cheese business,

which he had

no intention to do,

and I think that caused

a lot of friction.

His mother, on the other hand,

approved of everything he did.

Salinger enrolled in

Whit Burnett's

short story class at Columbia.

It was a very important move

for Salinger.

Whit Burnett was also editor

of 'Story' magazine.

'Story' magazine

published the very first work

of an extraordinary number

of American writers -

John Cheever, Carson McCullers,

Tennessee Williams,

Erskine Caldwell,

Jean Stafford, Peter de Vries.

Whit Burnett

ended up being a father-figure.

And based on

Burnett's encouragement,

Salinger went home and wrote a

story called 'The Young Folks'.

And much to

Salinger's surprise,

Burnett accepted the story

for 'Story' magazine

and paid him $25.

It was the first money J.D.

Salinger ever made as a writer.

Salinger always had

one goal in mind -

he wanted to be

in the 'New Yorker'.

The 'New Yorker'

was considered the best place

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