I just heard the sad news that J. D. Salinger has died. He was 91.
I went to school at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, which is just a few miles north of Cornish, New Hampshire, where Salinger lived. During the summer between my junior and senior year, I had a job at the circulation desk at the Dartmouth library. I was working one morning when my boss tapped me on the shoulder and motioned with his head over to the side of the desk. I just caught a glimpse of a tall, slender, slightly stooped man going through the doorway into the stacks. “That’s J. D. Salinger,” my boss whispered.
Holy crap, I thought. I just saw J. D. Salinger.
About ten minutes later Salinger suddenly reappeared at the desk, holding a dollar bill. I went over to him, and he said he needed change for the Xerox machine. I took his dollar and gave him four quarters.
That’s my claim to fame: I gave J. D. Salinger change for a buck.
Makes you wonder what he was copying – must be a story there! I’m just wondering now that he’s passed, how soon will the “Catcher in the Rye” movie be out, who will be the director and who will play Holden?
Clearly, one of the simple pleasures of an anonymous life is being able to go to the library, make change for a dollar, and photocopy your ass.
Rob:
>> and photocopy your ass
I’m sure a photo copy of Salingers ass would probably be on the Times bestseller list.
I hear he’s got hundreds in a vault.