Dear JD Salinger

It's a rarity that one book can define the mindset of an entire progeny (look it up), and even more rare that the author lives to see the generation touched by his work. Mr. Salinger, 'Catcher in the Rye' is one of my favorite books, not only because of the main character, Holden Caulfied, but because of the vivid explication of the society that he lived in. The vapid, underwhelming world around the high school dropout only served to harden Holden even more. Not to say that I'm the spitting image of Caulfield, but as a person of the same age, I notice the one similarity in our mindsets: cynicism. Mr. Salinger, your book solidified that it is quite okay to be disillusioned with the way everything is going so long as your values and ideologies are kept pure. Also, the work showed how precious youth is, in that innocence lost too quickly is worse than not having innocence in the first place. This is more of my own personal obituary than a letter, JD. And I suppose that because your protagonist was okay with delving into the personal in different forums, such a post is warranted. JD, your memory will not be in vain. There's a whole new generation of Holdens, ready to catch the children in the rye if they venture too near to the cliff. Hopefully you're guarding us as well...

RIP Jerome David Salinger