Letters to the editor

Re “He may be 90, but don’t mess with J.D.� Opinion, June 25

Meghan Daum takes cheap shots at J.D. Salinger, calling him “paranoid, mercurial and even delusional,� and giving short shrift to his attempts to suppress unauthorized use of his characters in a new Swedish novel.

Given her research on the subject, Daum should know that any publication regarding Salinger or his landmark novel, “Catcher in the Rye,� stirs considerable interest, with or without his intervention. So, he is not delusional.

A much larger issue is the challenge to copyright in this Googled/YouTubed world, and the loss of identity that it implies. If our own creations are no longer ours, then the mass media really have taken over.

Ralph Cohen

Seal Beach

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When I started reading the article, I was grinning and thinking, yeah, Holden wouldn’t want other people messing around with “Catcher in the Rye.� Then my grin faded as Daum knocked J.D. for wanting to protect his intellectual property.

Maybe a lawsuit goes too far, but maybe, just maybe, J.D. is a hero trying to uphold the integrity of the book, any book.

Anyway, Daum couldn’t possibly know what J.D. is thinking.

Stephanie Buehler

Irvine

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I must regretfully take strong issue with the characterization of J.D. Salinger as “paranoid, mercurial and even delusional� for trying to protect “Catcher in the Rye� from being plagiarized in such a graceless manner.

Salinger has every legal and moral right to protect not only his classic work, but to protect his own good name as well. Today’s literary world needs more, not fewer, J.D. Salingers.

Robert Ouriel

Brentwood

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I cannot imagine what possessed this outburst against American icon J.D. Salinger.

Since, in the author’s own words, Salinger is 90, totally deaf and recovering from hip-replacement surgery, would it not be reasonable for her to have bit of empathy or compassion?

Sheila Kalivas

Calabasas