Frail, Deaf Salinger Fights On

JUNE 8--Though he is frail, deaf, and has been confined to a rehabilitation facility since breaking his hip last month, J.D. Salinger personally authorized his literary agent and lawyers to try and halt the publication of a book that has been described as a sequel to 'The Catcher in the Rye.' In a U.S. District Court affidavit, agent Phyllis Westberg offered a glimpse at the reclusive 90-year-old author's life. 'I communicate in writing with Mr. Salinger (he is now totally deaf) frequently,' Westberg noted in her June 1 filing, adding that the writer 'has several age-related health problems' and 'last week, he broke his hip, required surgery, and is now in a rehabilitation facility.' Westberg is president of Harold Ober Associates, the New York literary agency that has represented Salinger for nearly 70 years. Last week, Salinger filed a federal copyright lawsuit seeking to stop the U.S. publication of '60 Years Later: Coming Through the Rye,' which Salinger termed a 'rip-off pure and simple' of 'The Catcher in the Rye.' The new book, whose authorship is credited to 'J.D. California,' is currently available in England and is scheduled to be available in the U.S. in about three months. In her affidavit, an excerpt of which you'll find here, Westberg stated that Salinger was 'fully aware of the existence of this unauthorized sequel' and directed his representatives 'to institute this action to halt this blatant violation of his rights.' Salinger, Westberg noted, has long refused to 'allow any manipulation or derivative works' of 'The Catcher in the Rye,' and 'feels strongly that he wants his fiction and his characters to remain intact as he wrote them--unstaged, unfilmed and free of outside interpretation by actors, directors, producers, set designers, etc.' However, if Salinger decided to publish a sequel to his most famous novel, 'it would command substantial payment, including at least a $5 million advance.' A June 17 court hearing has been scheduled on Salinger's request for a preliminary injunction enjoining publication of the purported 'Catcher' sequel. (3 pages)