Jerome David Salinger (1919 - 2010)

Born 1 Jan 1919 in New York, New York, United States

Ancestors

Died 27 Jan 2010 at age 91 in Cornish, New Hampshire, United States

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Biography

J. D. Salinger is Notable.

The Wikipedia article gives a most comprehensive coverage of the life and activities of this Unites States born writer, with a listing of all his published works but who is most famously known for his book, "The Catcher in the Rye".

Jerome David Salinger was born on January 1, 1919. He was the son of Sol Salinger and Miriam (Jillich) Salinger.^[1]

He married Sylvia Welter (apparently a German) around the end of WW II while he was deployed with the US Army. In April 1946, he brought her home with him at the end of the war. But the marriage lasted 8 months, at which point they divorced and Sylvia returned to Germany.

"By the late 1940s, Salinger had become an avid follower of Zen Buddhism, to the point that he "gave reading lists on the subject to his dates" and arranged a meeting with Buddhist scholar D. T. Suzuki"^[2]. Daisetsu Teitaro Suzuki was a Japanese author of books and essays on Buddhism, Zen (Chan) and Shin^[3]. After several years of practicing Zen Buddhism, in 1952, he wrote to friends of a momentous change in his life while reading The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna about Hindu religious teacher Sri Ramakrishna. He also studied the writings of Ramakrishna's disciple Vivekananda. The Wikipedia (J.D. Salinger) author does comment that "Salinger's religious studies were reflected in some of his writing". Philip Goldberg (2018) commented that Salinger wanted to achieve enlightenment but struggled with the belief that he would have to give up family life, until he read in Paramahansa Yogananda's Autobiography of a Yogi that Lahiri Mahasaya, who was 2 steps above the former in their Line of Gurus, had been a family man. It is unclear whether the 'momentous change' experienced by Salinger was permanent or a temporary awakening. The latter seems the more likely.

He married Claire Douglas in February 1955. Margaret Salinger was born on December 10, 1955. Matthew Salinger was born on February 13, 1960. They separated in September 1966 and divorced on October 3, 1967.

He married Colleen O'Neill around 1988 and remained with her until his death.

He passed away on January 27, 2010.^[4]

Sources

1. ↑ "United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KQTF-56X : accessed 8 December 2016), Jerome D Salinger in household of Sol Salinger, Assembly District 15, Manhattan, New York City, New York, New York, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 31-1335, sheet 816B, line 62, family 174, Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, NARA digital publication T627. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 - 2007, RG 29. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012, roll 2655.
2. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._D._Salinger
3. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D._T._Suzuki
4. ↑ "United States Social Security Death Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JGTM-3JC : 20 May 2014), Jerome David Salinger, 27 Jan 2010; citing U.S. Social Security Administration, Death Master File, database (Alexandria, Virginia: National Technical Information Service, ongoing).

Wikidata: Item Q79904

• Wikipedia contributors, "J. D. Salinger," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._D._Salinger (accessed December 6, 2016).
• Goldberg, Philip, (2018) 'The Life of Yogananda: The Story of the Yogi Who Became the First Modern Guru'. Hay House, Inc.
• "United States, GenealogyBank Obituaries, 1980-2014," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QK4K-9CR1 : 22 July 2016), Margaret Salinger in entry for J D Salinger, Washington, United States, 28 Jan 2010; from "Recent Newspaper Obituaries (1977 - Today)," database, GenealogyBank.com (http://www.genealogybank.com : 2014); citing Seattle Post-Intelligencer, born-digital text.(citing relatives)