Day Tripping: January 1

The page turns

Jerome David Salinger was born in 1919 in Manhattan, New York. While attending public school, he called himself Jerry in an effort to fit in, but he always felt like an outsider.

He did, however, have a talent for drama and writing for the school newspaper. At night, he used a flashlight under the covers to write stories.

It wasn’t until after his Bar Mitzvah that Jerome learned his mother wasn't Jewish. His father was the son of a Rabbi in Kentucky. Jerome was raised Jewish, and after grade school, his parents sent him to the Valley Forge Miltary School in Pennsylvania.

Then, while at Columbia University he took a writing class with the editor of Story Magazine, Whit Burnett. Several weeks went by without Salinger being noticed, and then he woke suddenly with three short stories, one of which, The Young Folks was published in the magazine.

“The true poet has no choice of material. The material plainly chooses him, not he it.”

For a while during WWII, Salinger dated Eugene O’Neill’s daughter Oona. He wrote letters to her often, but the relationship ended when she began seeing Charlie Chaplin.

JD was submitting regular stories to the New Yorker until he was drafted into the US Army in 1941. One story involved a teenager named Holden Caulfield who was nervous about going to war. Salinger saw combat at Utah Beach during the Battle of the Bulge.

Salinger also arranged to meet his hero, Ernest Hemingway while still in Europe. The two got along well and maintained correspondence for years.

After the war, JD was eager to sell his short stories to film studios. But when his first was panned by critics, JD Salinger never allowed a film adaptation of his work again.

Salinger returned to his character, Holden Caulfield with Catcher In The Rye in 1951. The book was hailed as both genius and vile by separate factions. Yet it remains today as a favorite for youth around the globe.

Musical Ride

While serving time for burglary in San Quentin prison in 1959, Merle Haggard and his fellow inmates were treated to one of Johnny Cash’s first prison shows.

Cash held the belief that incarcerated men still deserved entertainment, and that prison was responsible for taking their souls. Cash never served time himself, but his concert inspired Haggard to pursue a music career when he was released.

Interesting Notes

The European Union released the first Euro currency in 1999 to be used first, by 11 of the member nations.

Gone But Not Forgotten

Cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond was responsible for filming several Academy Award-winning films including McCabe and Mrs. Miller, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and The Deer Hunter. Zsigmond died in 2016 at 85.

Notable Births

1895 — J. Edgar Hoover: “No amount of law enforcement can solve a problem that goes back to the family.”

1938 — Frank Langella: “Intelligence is enormously sexy.”

K. Barrett Maria Rattray Maryam Merchant Dr. Mehmet Yildiz Tree Langdon Myriam Ben Salem Phil Truman Chelsea Mandler MAT Terry Mansfield Hollie Petit, Ph.D. Terry Trueman Dr. Preeti Singh John Gruber Bill Abbate James G Brennan ScienceDuuude Marcus Liam Ireland Claire Kelly Noorain Hassan, BMS Amy Pierovich David Acaster Nora Thewriteyard David Perlmutter Joe Luca Holly Kellums Michael Burg, MD Lucy Dan Dave Logan

All previous Day Tripping entries are available at the following links:

The Story Of Day Tripping Through History What’s Past Is Often Present

A comprehensive directory for Day Tripping