Author of The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger, Dead at 91

The death of Jerome David (JD) Salinger has rocked the literary world and brought up questions of privacy and ethical dilemmas concerning an unauthorized biography “who owns a public figures story", since they are in the public arena, can anyone write their truths? Salinger didn't think so; he tried to bring an injunction against his own daughter, Claire Douglas for wanting to tell her famous father s story. She went on to write a contemptuous book about a reclusive father who often spoke in tongues and drank his own urine, something her brother Mathew disputed.

Recently, a woman known around the world (if there was an opposite of reclusiveness, she would be it) "Oprah" has been trying to squelch an unauthorized biography about her famous life for several months now, spending tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees.

Salinger was the author of one of the most famous and controversial books of the 21st century The Catcher in the Rye about a 16-year-old boy who runs away from a boarding school to New York City in order to find his true self. Along the way, a story unfolds that deals with sex, rebellion and swearing and in 1951 when it was first published; the book was immediately banned from many libraries, schools and bookstores, deemed too be to racy for young people and even older individuals. However the book was an "instant classic" and sold over 60 million copies world wide. It was the most censored book for 20 years in a row but remained a top best seller.

One of the greatest books in American literature, The Catcher in the Rye is about being young, being lonely, being lost and trying to figure oneself out. It was a popular coming of age novel and quickly took its place in American pop culture.

The book, which was only one of several books Salinger published, was said to cause peculiarities in others as it had in its creator. The man who shot John Lennon "Mark David Chapman" proclaimed his reason for doing so could be found in the pages of The Catcher in the Rye. Other Salinger books included Franny and Zooey, Nine Stories, Raise High the Roof Beam and Carpenters and Seymour: An Introduction, each of which were collections of short stories and several received some success but none received such iconic accolades as The Catcher in the Rye.

JD died in a small town in New England and before that, hardly left his home. When he did venture out to a restaurant, they said he would eat in the kitchen. If someone would approach him “for any reason“ he would turn and run the other way. He was said to have been always writing, rare visitors and family member said there were stacks and stacks of notebooks filled with writing of which he did everyday and for himself. The fate of Salinger's "lost writings" are in the hands of his estate now.