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J.D. Salinger is born
Jerome David Salinger is born on January 1, 1912 to Solomon and Miriam Jillich Salinger. A sister, Doris, had been born in Chicago, 1912. Salinger's father was regional manager for a meat and cheese import company and the son of Jewish immigrants. His mother was born in Iowa of German and Irish ancestry. -
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The Life, Career and Death of J.D. Salinger
The Life, Career and Death of J.D. Salinger -
Growing Up
The Salinger family moves to 1133 Park Avenue in New York CIty. Jerome is enrolled in the McBurney School, a private high school. He is a medicore student and captains the fencing team. -
Valley Forge Military Academy
Enters Valley Forge Military Academy, Wayne, Pennsylvania (the obvious basis for Pency Prep.) Works on the school newspaper and yearbook Crossed Sabres. -
Graduates from college
Graduates from Valley Forge Military Academy.
Enrolls in New York University (Washington Square College). -
NYU Drop Out
Salinger receives poor grades and quits New York University before completing his second semester. He travels to Europe to study his father's import business. -
Enter the Slaughter House
Spends time working at a slaughterhouse in Bydgoszcz, Poland and is repulsed by the experience. Lives ten months in Vienna, Austria on the cusp of the Nazi anschluss. Returns home on March 16, begins a brief enrollment at Ursinus College, Pennsylvania, where he writes a column for the school newspaper. -
Return to College
Attends two semesters of a short story writing course taught by Whit Burnett at Columbia University. -
First Short Story
*Salinger's first short story, "The Young Folks," is published in Whit Burnett's magazine.
"Go See Eddie" is published in the Kansas City Revue.
*Salinger reports he is planning to begin "the novel" that will one day become The Catcher in the Rye. -
And So It Begins...Writer's success
Hires the Harold Ober Agency as his literary agent.
Writes and sells "Slight Rebellion Off Madison" to The New Yorker,
"The Hang of It" is published by Collier's .
"Heart of a Broken Story" is published in Esquire. -
From A Job to Denial of Entry into the Army
In February, Salinger takes a position on the entertainment staff of the M.S. Kungsholm, touring the Caribbean for nineteen days. Afterwards, he attempts to join the army but is deferred due to a minor heart irregularity. -
Romance Blossoms
After denial into the army, Salinger begins a romantic relationship with Oona O'Neill, daughter of the playwright Eugene O'Neill. -
War and More Books
*Salinger is drafted into the United States Army and attends Officers, First Sergeants, and Instructors School of Signal Corps in Ft. Monmouth, New Jersey.
*Applies for admission to Army Officer Candidate School but is sent to the Army Air Force Basic Flying School in Georgia.
*Writes "Last and Best of the Peter Pans." Sells "Paula" to Stag. "The Long Debut of Lois Taggett" is published in Story. "Personal Notes of an Infant -
Moving Up and Writing On
*Salinger is transferred to Nashville, Tennessee and promoted to Staff Sergeant. He is later re-stationed to Patterson Field in Fairfield, Ohio and later to Fort Holabird, Maryland.
*He also writes "Both Parties Concerned," "Soft-Boiled Sergeant," "Elaine," and "Last Day of the Last Furlough."
"The Varoni Brothers" is published in The Saturday Evening Post. -
Experiencing D Day
In January, Salinger is shipped to Europe and stationed at Tiverton, England, where he continues Counter Intelligence training.
He participates in the D-Day invasion of Nazi Europe, landing at Utah Beach on June 6. Serves with the 4th Infantry Division during the Battles for Normandy, of St. Lô , Hurtgen Forest and the Bulge. He is among the first troops to enter Paris on the day of its liberation where he meets and befriends Ernest Hemingway.
His short storie -
The War Continues
*Takes part in the invasion and occupation of Germany, serving in the Rhineland, in Württemberg, and Bavaria. *In September, Salinger meets and marries Sylvia Welter, a 26-year-old German-born opthalmologist.
He is honorably discharged in November bu -
Progress on a Masterpiece
*Finishes and submits original version of The Catcher in the Rye as a 90-page novella. Dissatisfied, withdraws the book and begins to rework it. -
A Sad Divorce
On May 10, Salinger returns to the United States with Sylvia who soon goes back to Europe and files for divorce. -
Thew New York Post
Salinger establishes a strong publishing relationship with The New Yorker and intensifies his studies of eastern religion and philosophy.
Publishes the major short stories "A Perfect Day for Bananafish," "Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut," and "Just Before the War with the Eskimos" in The New Yorker. "Blue Melody" is published in Cosmopolitan and "A Girl I Knew" is published in Good Housekeeping.
Signs a first-rejection contract with The New Yorker, affording him to move from Stamford to a rented -
Catcher and the Rye on the Horizon
Salinger has completed The Catcher in the Rye. After his original publishers at Harcourt Brace request that he change it, Salinger withdraws the manuscript and sells it to Little, Brown and Company instead. -
The Novel that Defines Him as a Legend
Salinger publishes "The Catcher in the Rye" on July 16. The novel quickly reaches Number 4 on The New York Times Bestsellers list and is chosen for additional publication by the "Book of the Month Club." -
Finding Love Again
alinger marries Claire Alison Douglas, daughter of British art critic Robert Langton Douglas, on February 17. -
Baby Mathew
A son, Matthew , is born on February 13.
Salinger breaks with his British publishers, Hamish Hamilton. -
A Face on Time
Salinger appears on the cover of Time magazine.
Franny and Zooey is published in September. The book becomes Number 1 on The New York Times Bestsellers list. -
More Success
Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour:An Introduction is published. The collection becomes the third best selling book of 1963. -
Baby Peggy
Shawn is named godfather for Peggy Salinger, replacing Salinger's friend, the late Judge Learned Hand. Salinger and Shawn are both named godfather for the adopted son of Shawn's mistress, Lillian Ross. -
Another Divorce
After having built and moved into a home apart from his family, Salinger is divorced from Claire Douglas, ending twelve years of marriage. -
But Not Alone for too Long...
After reading an article in The New York Times Magazine, Salinger writes to its author, an 18-year-old student named Joyce Maynard. Maynard soon moves in with Salinger at Cornish and the couple engage a short romance. -
Death and a Rare Interview
Salinger's parents die. He grants a rare interview to the New York Times explaining his reaction to the publication of a unauthorized collection of his early short stories. -
Sue Success
Salinger successfully sues to stop the publication of an unauthorized sequel to The Catcher in the Rye -
Farewell to Salinger
On January 27, at age 91, J.D. Salinger died at his home in Cornish, New Hampshire..
