R.I.P., J.D. Salinger, cruise ship director and author

According to reports in the LA Times, The Catcher in the Rye author J.D. Salinger, who recently passed away at the age of 91, worked as an activity director on a cruise ship when he was 22.

The shipboard experience “left such a lasting impression on him that years afterward he would still remember fondly his one real venture into live show business.”

A few more facts and background appear on the Cruising the Past blog including links to some of Salinger’s short stories from the period that were influenced by his shipboard experiences.

Not surprisingly, like Melville, another of America’s greatest writers was a mariner.