Image via WikipediaWriter who inspired Lennon’s assassin dies
By VINCE SOODIN
Published: Today
THE legendary novelist whose cult classic The Catcher in the Rye inspired assassin Mark Chapman to kill John Lennon has died.
Murdered … John Lennon signs album for Chapman Reclusive American JD Salinger, who was 91, wrote the book about anti-hero Holden Caulfield in 1951.
It became massively popular with teenagers - focusing on Caulfield’s feeling of alienation and his urge to rebel.
Chapman had the novel with him when he shot 40-year-old Beatle John outside the star’s New York apartment in 1980.
The killer, then 35, sat on the pavement afterwards and read the book before being arrested. He later said his motive for murdering John could be found in the novel.
Jail mug … Mark Chapman Chapman described it as an inspiration, adding: “This extraordinary book holds many answers.”
Last night the literary world paid tribute to Salinger, who died from natural causes.
Author and literary director of the Booker Prize Ion Trewin said: “It’s interesting how one book can really become an institution. It has meant so much to several generations, particularly young people growing up, who can see something they can identify with.”
Best-seller … shifted 60m copies Jon Howells, spokesman for book seller Waterstone’s, said The Catcher in the Rye qualified Salinger as “one of the absolute giants of 20th-century literature”.
He said: “It is a book probably everyone in the Western world has heard of. You will find it on the shelves of every bookshop and library.”
The novel has been translated into almost every language.
The secretive author lived for decades in self-imposed isolation in a small remote house in Cornish, New Hampshire.
He married Claire Douglas, 19, when he was 35 in 1954. They had two children and then divorced in 1967.
For nearly 30 years before his death he lived with Colleen O’Neill.
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Jerome David Salinger’s three subsequent books were all best-sellers. But no new Salinger fiction appeared after 1965.
In a brief interview in 1980, Salinger said: “I love to write, but I write for myself, for pleasure.”
Pals say he had a large safe containing at least 15 works which may now be published.
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