Chronology

1919  Jerome David Salinger is born January 1 in NYC to Sol and Miriam           Jillich Salinger.

1930  Voted "most popular actor" at Camp Wigwam, Harrison, Maine.

1932  Parents enroll him in McBurney School, Manhattan.

1934  Sent to Valley Forge Military Academy.

1935  Becomes literary editor of Academy yearbook.

1936  Graduates from Valley Forge Miltary Academy.

1937  Enrolls for summer session at New York University. Goes ot Austria and           Poland for a brief try as an apprentice in his father's import meat           business.  

1938  Attends Ursinus College, Colegetown, Pennsylvania, for half a semester.           Writes column, "The Skipped Diploma," for Ursinus Weekly.

1939  Signs up for Whit Burnett's course in short-story writing at Columbia           University

1940  Publishes first story, "The Young Folks," in Burnett's Story (March-April           issue). Another early story, "Go See Eddie," appears in the University of          Kansas City Review (December issue).

1941  Publishes stories in Collier's and Esquire. Story anout Holden Caulfiels,           "Slight Rebellion Off Madison," bought by The New Yorker but not           published until 1946.

1942  Additional stories in Colllier's and Story. Drafted into the U. S. Army           and attends Officers, FirstSergeants, and Instructors School of the Signal           Corps.

1943  Attains rank of staff sergeant and is stationed in Nashville, Tennessee.           Applies for Officers' Candidate School and is transferred to the Army           Counter Intelligence Corps. Publishes sotry in The Saturday Evening           Post, "The Varioni Brothers" (17 July).

1944  In Tiverton, Devonshire, England, for counter-intelligence training.           Three more stories in The Saturday Evening Post. Lands with 4th Army           Division at Untah Beach in the D-Day invasion of Normandy. Involved           in five campaigns as Security Agent for the 12th Infantry Regiment.

1945  First published story about Holden Caulfield, "I'm Crazy," appears in           Collier's (22 December). Other pieces in Esquire, Story, and The                    Saturday Evening Post.

1946  Temporary hospitalization in Nurnberg. Writes letter of adulation to           Ernest Hemingway, whom he had met in France. Ninety-page novella           about Holden Caulfield withdrawn by Salinger before publication.           "Slight Rebellion Off Madison" finally published by The New Yorker (21           December).

1947  Back in the United States, publishes in Mademoiselle and Cosmopolitan.

1948  Signs contract with The New Yorker. "A Perfect Day for Bananafish"           published in 31 January issue.

1949  "The Laughing Man" appears in The New Yorker" (19 March) and           "Down at the Dinghy" in Harper's (April). Moves (probably) to           Westport, Connecticut, some time this year.

1950  My Foolish Heart, movie loosely based on "Uncle Wiggly in           Connecticut," starring Susan Hayward and Dana Andrews, premiers           January 21. "For Esme - with Love and Squalor," The New Yorker (8           April), is later selected by Martha Foley as one of the distinguished           short stories published in American magazines in 1950.

1951  The Catcher in the Rye is published by Little, Brown and Co., July 16.           Salinger avoids publicity by traveling to Europe

1952  Travels to Mexico. Valley Forge Miltary Academy selects Salinger for           one of three Distinguished Alumni of the Year awards.

1953  Buys ninety acres in the town of Cornish, New Hampshire. Nine Stories           published by Littlew, Brown and Co., April 6. Interviewed by Shirlie           Blaney for the Windsor (Vermont) High School page that appeared           monthly in the nearby Claremont (New Hampshire) Daily Eagle.           Salinger offended when interview is printed on Daily Eagle editorial           page,Novemeber 13.

1955  Marriage to Claire Douglas, February 17. "Franny" published in The           New Yorker (29 January) and "Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters,"           also in The New Yorker (19 November). Daughter, Margaret Ann, born           December 10.

1957  "Zooey" publisher in The New Yorker (4 May).

1959  "Seymour: An Introduction" is published in The New Yorker (6 June).

1960  Son, Matthew, born February 13.

1961  Franny and Zooey published by Little, Brown and CO., September 14.

1963  Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters; and Seymour: An Introduction           published by Little, Brown and Co., January 28.

1965  "Hapworth 16, 1924," most recent published story, appears in The New           Yorker (19 June).

1967  Divorces Claire Douglas

1987  Publication of Ian Hamilton's biography, J. D. Salinger:A Writing Life,           is prohibited because quotations from Salinger's letters violate his           copyright.

1997  Hapworth 16, 1924 republished in the form of a book.

 buy The Catcher in the Rye