RIP, JD

This morning I woke up and for some reason, I thought about "The Catcher in the Rye." I read it earlier this year in English and I enjoyed it. I thought Holden Caulfield was absolutely fascinating, and I loved the general theme like 'hey, I'm a little crazy, but so are you - you're just in denial.'

Later on, I was sitting in choir. Something someone did (I don't remember what now...) made me really happy. Being really happy made me think of the section of the book "Ophelia Joined the Group Maidens Who Don't Float: Classic Lit Signs onto Facebook" that is designated to Holden Caulfield. His 'status update' after becoming friends with Jane Gallagher is 'Holden Caulfield is feeling so damn happy all of the sudden.'

After I got home from school, I was listening to Ingrid Michaelson's 'The Hat,' which for some reason makes me think of Holden's red hunting hat in 'The Catcher in the Rye.'

I didn't really think much of these things. Until I logged onto Twitter, which was abuzz with 'JD Salinger is dead' tweets from some literary savvy friends and authors who I shamelessly follow. I checked AOL News to make sure it was true.

It is.

JD Salinger, author of 'The Catcher in the Rye,' the genius behind the rebellious and intriguing Holden Caulfield, passed away from natural causes at the age of 91 on Wednesday, January 27, 2010.

It was then that I remembered that 'The Catcher in the Rye' came to me three times today. At first I was a little panicked. I wondered (aloud, on Twitter) if my thinking about it inadvertantly killed JD Salinger. The I discovered he died Wednesday - yesterday, not today. Then I figured that my thinking about 'The Catcher in the Rye' was simply Salinger's way of saying goodbye. My assumption was solidified when one literary obsessed friend said she, too, had thought of 'The Catcher in the Rye' today.

Call me crazy (I'd be okay with that), but I think Salinger, no matter how reclusive he was, knew how many people he touched with his book. I think maybe his spirit came to us all as a final 'thank you' for being so receptive to his unconventional work.

I'm crazy. Really I am.

JD Salinger, we literary nerds will never forget you. Rest in peace.