What a perfect title. Rest In Peace J.D. Salinger. The bathtub scene in Franny And Zooey made me laugh out loud, every time I read it. Holden Caulfield's little sister Phoebe. Goddamn Phoebe I loved her. I loved Salinger. We didn't read him in school. I went to Catholic schools, not at all liberal or progressive. I was about as self destructive as Holden Caulfield and managed both an expulsion from boarding school myself, and one from all girls Catholic college too.
Reading saved my life. My grandmother taught me to read when I was 3. I read Gone With The Wind in 4th or 6th grade. What ever grade it was, the nuns did not approve. I was always in trouble, never studying, always a mouth on me, but boy could I read. Books showed me there was a larger world out there, different kinds of people, everybody didn't wear a uniform. I wore one for 12 years.
A big thank you to all the authors who opened doors to different rooms for me, who led me down different paths than the ones I was shown. Who provided a much needed escape hatch. Who continue to enrich my life every day. Let's hear it for the written word.
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