J.D. Salinger died last week of natural causes. He was 91 years old. For most of recent history, Salinger went unnoticed in his day-to-day life, and in ours. He was never on Oprah's couch or at Larry King's desk. Since 1965, Salinger's only public affairs were a final interview in 1980, and a few scattered legal battles in the 1980s and in 2009. He is famous for his reclusive nature, but more famous for his important, influential works.

Salinger published his first story, “A Perfect Day for Bananafish,” in “The New Yorker” in 1948. This story catapulted him to acclaim and success almost instantly. He wrote and published more short stories and novels, including 1951's “Catcher in the Rye,” 1963's “Nine Stories” and 1961's “Franny and Zooey,”

“Catcher in the Rye” is like a friend you had when you were much younger. Your ideas have changed, you're not as idealistic, you're a different person now. But coming back to that old friend, you still find the same connection that you used to have. Almost 50 years after its publication, young people can still relate to Holden Caulfield and his feelings of not fitting in, yearning for innocence of days gone by, and desperately wishing that everyone could be genuine.

The story is timeless, and it's one of those books that almost everyone claims as their favorite. But next time someone says “Catcher in the Rye” is their favorite book, take a second before rolling your eyes at how obvious it is. After all, it's true that we live in a world full of phonies, and school can feel like a waste of time, and really it's all just crumby.

I asked a few members of the English department to comment on Salinger.

Nathan Shank, an MA student in the English department:

“J.D. Salinger's wryly humorous stories capture audiences because readers find great pleasure in their satire and wit. But underneath the veneer of beat comedy are stories dealing with some of the themes literature has always prized: love, family, spirituality, and basic human conflict. Besides, no one who has read about Holden Caulfield can possibly forget him.”

Jim Zeigler, Assistant Professor in the English department:

“For many years in US literary history the 1950s were “The Decade of Salinger.” Like Elvis, James Dean, Allen Ginsberg, and other counterculture heroes of the era, Holden Caulfield – the protagonist of Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye – was a rebel who appealed to Americans aspiring to be more optimistic than McCarthyism, atomic bombs, and massive resistance to civil rights would seem to allow.”

Salinger had a knack for putting that lost, empty feeling we all experience into the perfect words. His recent death is an opportunity to give him a second look. Go back to the world of Holden Caulfield, or experience it for the first time. Check out “Nine Stories” or “Franny and Zooey” from Bizzell. Salinger may no longer be with us, but his words and stories will live and speak for him, as they always have.