in memory of j.d. salinger

i think you taught us all how to grow up and you were a strict father with his feet firm in some morals or another.
i think without you,
i would be more or less half the person i am today.

i remember, finishing "for esme with love and squalor" on the way to school, and feeling like i wanted to cry. even closing "franny and zooey" on route home, or reading holden's last words in a crowded bank in some part of north london.
these are my fondest memories.

you made worlds, and i lived in them for brief periods of time.
it really was a wonderful relationship.

of course, what i really loved, was all the little idosyncrasies all your men and women had. so true to life, so REAL.

i think i hate people because of you. i think i am the way i am today, because of you. that i hate crowds, and selfishness, and ugly, rude brutes is thanks to you.

perhaps not directly, but i'm positive you opened the door and allowed an influx of wonderful negativity into my life.

and by no means do i loathe it.
i love it.

pessimism is my optimism.

rest in peace.