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

It's difficult now to remember how controversial this book was when it was published. The big issue was whether high school students should be allowed to read it. Holden Caulfield was seen as an anti-hero, a rebel by teenagers. To adults, he was just plain nuts.

I read it as a kid, eight grade maybe, but then I read almost everything as a kid -- even the books the city's Liberian kept under her desk. This always included the books on the New York Times Best Sellers List (me reading and her hiding). In the 1950's, where I grew up, this was somewhat dangerous for both of us.

Scary that the U.S. government banned books into the 1960's, they're only words.