Salinger, Jerome David

Group of twelve letters including four autograph letters signed ("Jerry"), four typed letters signed ("Jerry") and four typed letters, 18 pages, various sizes, New York, Georgia, France, and Vermont, 19 January 1941 to 11 May 1964, to Frances"Terry" Thierolf Glassmoyer; ten letters with envelopes; one autograph letter with paper loss at top and bottom right corners affecting signature and two words of text.



Accompanied by: Three drafts of Glassmoyer's letters to Salinger; Glassmoyer's letter to the President of Ursinus College providing Salinger's address; three letters from the President of Ursinus College regarding an invitation to accept a degree of Doctor of Literature; a copy of a letter from Salinger to the President of Ursinus College declining his invitation to accept the degree; miscellaneous news clippings relating to Salinger; Glassmoyer's 1938 diary recording her multitudinous dates with "Jerry " between 15 October and 11 December 1938.

A lasting friendship. Salinger met Frances "Terry" Thierolf almost immediately upon setting foot on the Ursinus College campus in the autumn of 1938. Having graduated Valley Forge Military Academy as a teen and completed over a year in Europe as an agent for his father's imported food business, Salinger possessed an air of polish and sophistication that separated him from his fellow freshman at Ursinus. No doubt the female population at Ursinus duly noted Salinger's good looks and sharp wit as well. After reveling in the attention for a short while, Salinger abandoned the search for a permanent date and settled on a suitable best friend—Terry Thierolf. From dancing to dinner, from long Sunday walks to competitive games of ping pong, Salinger and Thierolf enjoyed all Ursinus and Collegeville had to offer. Thierolf's diary from 1938 is riddled with the name "Jerry" from 15 October through 11 December. In December of his freshman year Salinger decided to return to New York to further his education. So ended his time at Ursinus but not his friendship with Thierolf. From early 1941 through the middle of 1964, Salinger maintained a warm and whimsical correspondence with Thierolf. Announcements of recent publications and upcoming stories abound in his early letters. In a letter of 8 September 1950, he notes he finds it "delightful" that Thierolf identifies Holden in Catcher in the Rye with him. Details of Salinger's time in the military are touched upon with interesting detail: from the explanation of his failure to understand the war to foxhole digging "to a cowardly depth"  in France to the feeling of constant fear making him forget he was ever a civilian. In his letter of 7 August 1944 from France he mentions meeting Ernest Hemingway who, at the time, was working for Collier's. Salinger reports engaging in some lengthy conversations with the writer and uses the terms "nice" and "unpatronizing" in his description of him.  Later letters in the correspondence are filled with details of Salinger's life in Vermont with his wife and children. Fond reminiscences of Ursinus College are sprinkled though Salinger's letters from beginning to end. The correspondence reveals a warm friendship enveloped with lucid memories of his early adult years.