Thanks Ms. Taggart

Rest in peace, Mr. Salinger. May you finally find some.

'Catcher in the Rye' author J.D. Salinger dies

Gotta love this sidenote.

"'The Catcher in the Rye' became both required and restricted reading, periodically banned by a school board or challenged by parents worried by its frank language and the irresistible chip on Holden's shoulder.

'I'm aware that a number of my friends will be saddened, or shocked, or shocked-saddened, over some of the chapters of `The Catcher in the Rye.' Some of my best friends are children. In fact, all of my best friends are children," Salinger wrote in 1955, in a short note for "20th Century Authors.'

'It's almost unbearable to me to realize that my book will be kept on a shelf out of their reach,' he added."

Any book that's restricted reading has got to be good. Any book that goes from restricted to required is a sign of a people that don't know what they think about anything of any great importance. Certainly about great literature, which, even when I'm feeling lazy, I know is more important than most.

I read Catcher in the Rye on my dinner breaks working at Pizza Hut my junior year of high school, I believe. One of the great reading experiences, any kind of experience, of my life.

Thanks, Ms. Taggart. For introducing me to some of the great loves of my life. And for everything, really.

And thank you, Mr. Salinger. For the interesting ride.