J. D. Salinger, Enigmatic Author, Dies at 91

From the NY Times
J. D. Salinger, the obsessively private author who captured the hearts of several generations with his pitch-perfect knowledge of adolescence and his ear for the vernacular, died on Jan. 28. "The Catcher in the Rye" is his best-known work.

Mr. Salinger, who was born on Jan. 1, 1919 in Manhattan, has lived in seclusion in the small town of Cornish. N.H. for more than half a century. He has not been photographed in decades.

Mr. Salinger's "The Catcher in the Rye" caused a sensation when it was published. With its very first sentence, the book, which came out in 1951, introduced a brand-new voice in American writing, and it quickly became a cult book, a rite of passage for the brainy and disaffected. "Nine Stories," published in 1953, made Mr. Salinger a darling of the critics as well, for the way it dismantled the traditional architecture of the short story and replaced it with one in which a story could turn on a tiny shift of mood or tone.

In the 1960s, though, when he was at the peak of his fame, Mr. Salinger went silent. "Franny and Zooey," a collection of two long stories about the fictional Glass family, came out in 1961; two more long stories about the Glasses, "Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters" and "Seymour: An Introduction," appeared together in book form in 1963. The last work of Mr. Salinger's to appear in print was "Hapworth 16, 1924," a short story that took up most of the June 19, 1965, issue of The New Yorker. The story, which came out in book form in 1997, continued, and perhaps even

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Ed Beach, Host of ‘Just Jazz’ Radio Show, Dies at 86

An Early alum of Lewis & Clark College, had a big impact on Jazz. This is his obituary from the NY Times
Ed Beach, the host of a popular jazz radio show in the 1960s and ’70s, who attracted listeners in New York and elsewhere with his sonorous voice, eclectic taste, vast erudition and pleasurably irascible temperament, died on Dec. 25 in Eugene, Ore. He was 86 and lived in Eugene.

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A Closer Look at Charles Dickens's 'Christmas Carol'

From the NY Times

Art for All; Special Collections Art Film

A Posthumous Dispute Over a Writer’s Legacy

Here is a great article about
A Posthumous Dispute Over a Writer’s Legacy

The Choices That Closed a Window Into Afghanistan

By MICHIKO KAKUTANI
Published: July 13, 2009
Among the many lasting consequences of the Bush administration’s decision to invade Iraq in 2003 was the collateral damage it inflicted on Afghanistan and the war there against Al Qaeda and the Taliban. Money, troops and expertise were diverted to Iraq, and as the RAND Corporation political scientist Seth G. Jones observes in his useful new book, the initial success of the military operation in Afghanistan was squandered.



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A Literary Legend Fights for a Local Library

VENTURA, Calif. — When you are pushing 90, have written scores of famous novels, short stories and screenplays, and have fulfilled the goal of taking a simulated ride to Mars, what’s left?

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Walcott Withdraws From Poetry Professor Election

LONDON — This month dozens of academics at Oxford Universityreceived anonymous packages. Each contained photocopied pages from a book describing decades-old allegations of sexual harassment against Derek Walcott, the Nobel Prize-winning poet.

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Libraries Ask Judge to Monitor Google Books Settlement

Three groups representing libraries, including the American Library Association, the largest such group in the United States, have asked a federal judge to exercise “vigorous oversight” over a class-action settlement between Google, authors and publishers.

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Job Seekers turn to Libraries

As unemployment continues to escalate, more people are turning to Libraries for information and assistance. This from the NY Times. 

Blogging on the new Kindle

The new Kindle is out and it gets a favorable review from the NYTimes Brad Stone.