We lost one of the American literary greats this past week. Fringe celebrates J.D. Salinger’s ineffable legacy with posts from writers who have been affected by his work.

Ashley Peterson eulogizes J.D. in her own words:

The first Salinger enthusiast I knew, which is to say, the first person I knew who read beyond Catcher in the Rye, was Sarah Worden.  We met in eighth grade drama class, shared a love of Dum Dum lollipops, and by twelfth grade were best friends.

By college I too had read past Catcher, and one summer decided to read even beyond what Salinger had allowed Little, Brown to provide.  Blissfully and thankfully unaware of the possibilities of interlibrary loan, a friend and I traveled to a handful of Virginia college libraries chasing copies of stories from McCalls, The Saturday Evening Post, The New Yorker.  We came close to catching them all, I believe.

Last Thursday, I went home and read the first half of “Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters.”    Is there a more comforting literary presence than Muriel Fedder’s father’s uncle, the tiny man in the silk top hat?  With his cigar, his broad smile, and his outsized farewell gestures buoying the rumpled Buddy Glass he called... more »