J. D. Salinger - Early Life

Early Life

Jerome David Salinger was born in New York City, on New Year's Day, 1919. His mother, Marie (née Jillich), was born in Atlantic, Iowa, of Scottish, German and Irish descent. His paternal grandfather, Simon, born in Lithuania, was at one time the rabbi for the Adath Jeshurun congregation in Louisville, Kentucky. His father, Sol Salinger, sold kosher cheese. Salinger's mother changed her name to Miriam and passed as Jewish. Salinger did not learn his mother was not Jewish until just after his bar mitzvah. His only sibling was his older sister Doris (1911–2001).

The young Salinger attended public schools on the West Side of Manhattan, then in 1932, the family moved to Park Avenue and Salinger was enrolled at the McBurney School, a nearby private school. Being Jewish, Salinger had trouble fitting in at his new school environment and took measures to conform, such as calling himself Jerry. His family called him Sonny. At McBurney, he managed the fencing team, wrote for the school newspaper, and appeared in plays. He "showed an innate talent for drama", though his father opposed the idea of J.D. becoming an actor.

His parents enrolled him into Valley Forge Military Academy in Wayne, Pennsylvania, where he graduated in 1936. Though he had written for the school newspaper at McBurney, at Valley Forge Salinger began writing stories "under the covers, with the aid of a flashlight." At Valley Forge, Salinger was the literary editor of the class yearbook, Cross Sabres. He also participated in the Glee Club, Aviation Club, French Club, and the Non-Commissioned Officers Club. Salinger's Valley Forge 201 file reveals that he was a "mediocre" student, and unlike the overachievement enjoyed by members of the Glass family he would go on to write about, his recorded IQ was far from that of a genius. He started his freshman year at New York University in 1936, and considered studying special education, but dropped out the following spring. That fall, his father urged him to learn about the meat-importing business and he went to work at a company in Vienna, Austria.

He left Austria only a month before it was annexed by Nazi Germany on March 12, 1938. He attended Ursinus College in the fall of 1938 in Collegeville, Pennsylvania, during which time he wrote a column called "skipped diploma," which included movie reviews. Salinger dropped out after one semester however. In 1939, Salinger attended a Columbia University evening writing class taught by Whit Burnett, longtime editor of Story magazine. According to Burnett, Salinger did not distinguish himself until a few weeks before the end of the second semester, at which point "he suddenly came to life" and completed three stories. Burnett told Salinger that his stories were skillful and accomplished, and accepted "The Young Folks", a vignette about several aimless youths, for publication in Story. Salinger's debut short story was published in the magazine's March–April 1940 issue. Burnett became Salinger's mentor, and they corresponded for several years.