I don't know anyone who has read Catcher in the Rye and not felt some type of connection to Holden Caulfield and the book's author.

Even though Salinger was a hermit with a disdain for the limelight, he was still able to connect with more people than most of us ever will. He made a difference whether he wanted to or not.

Read his TIME obituary: http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1957492,00.html/r:t

"Just because I'm so horribly conditioned to accept everybody else's values, and just because I like applause and for every else to rave about me doesn't make it right. I'm ashamed of it. I'm sick of it. I'm sick of not having the courage to be an absolute nobody. I'm sick of myself and everybody else that wants to make some kind of splash."