Re: autograph
Bethany M. Edstrom (Bethany.M.Edstrom@Dartmouth.EDU)
Sun, 26 Apr 1998 09:33:38 -0400 (EDT)
--- You wrote:
So now you have something he probably touched!
I'd love to do the same, I mean to send JDS a letter only to have =
it
touched by him.
Could you please so kind to let me have his address?
--- end of quote ---
ENOUGH!
Several months ago we endured a similar thread on this list, when =
someone posted asking for directions to Salinger's house. Curiosity =
is a normal human characteristic, okay, but so is the common sense =
that tells us when it's time to put a clamp on our curiosity and =
leave people like JDS in peace.
Yeah., that guy has something JDS--along with a couple dozen postal =
workers-- probably touched. Personally, I'd rather "have" his ideas =
and his stories, which he did more than touch--he labored over =
them. If we subject Salinger to the treatment accorded a Hollywood =
star, we are lowering his work as well to the level of those =
mass-culture icons. Salinger is an icon, sure, but of a far, far =
different kind.
We can appreciate Shakespeare without trying to dig his body up =
from the grave. It is doubly important to give that kind of respect =
to Salinger, since he is still alive and his solitude is his =
choice.
My $.02 worth,
Bethany