Salinger, author of the canonical "Catcher in the Rye" who died in of natural causes in his home on Jan. 27, had lived in Cornish since 1953 in hopes of escaping publicity and leading a private life, residents said. Citizens of Cornish respected Salinger and generally regarded him as a good neighbor, according to former town clerk Bernice Johnson, who according to Ackerman "knows everyone" in Cornish.
"Everyone in town respected him and his wish to be private, secluded," Johnson said.
Visitors came to Cornish regularly, hoping to catch a glimpse of Salinger or talk to him about his writing, according to Ackerman, who used to work for United Parcel Service and delivered packages to the author's home. Ackerman said he was accustomed to having people come into the General Store asking for directions to Salinger's house.
Although he never gave directions to anyone looking for the writer, Ackerman's response to visitors depended on how nice they were, he said.
"You could tell the people who weren't from rural areas. They were more arrogant," Ackerman said. "We had a lot of fun with them."
Sending "arrogant" visitors on a long and futile tour of Cornish was an ongoing joke in the town, according to Ackerman. Johnson, laughing, said she never heard of people doing that, but that it was possible.
Gwen Tetirick '13, one of Salinger's neighbors, said that several times reporters or other visitors knocked on her family's door asking for directions to Salinger's home, but they would just pretend to not know who he was.
"We all just say J.D. Salinger who?'" Tetirick said. "They think we are a bunch of hicks who don't know who Salinger is."
Although Salinger did not directly ask for privacy, Johnson said, townspeople were generally aware of his desire for solitude.
"People just left him alone," Johnson said, "They just felt that's what he wanted."
French professor and Cornish resident Annabelle Cone said she felt like she was breaking a code whenever she spoke about Salinger.
"In order to be accepted by the town you have to follow the code," Cone said. "One of the codes of Cornish is you don't run your mouth about Salinger."
Although he largely avoided publicity, Salinger did once agree to meet two Chicago teachers interested in interviewing him about his books, Johnson said. The couple asked Johnson for directions to his house and she told them to leave a polite note for him at the post office.
After reading the note, Salinger wrote the couple back and invited them to his home, Johnson said.
Salinger interacted with the townspeople, although he was not a talkative person, residents said.
"He was just pleasant," Johnson said. "He would discuss the weather."
Salinger and his wife Colleen O'Neill were very involved in the Cornish community, regularly attending town meetings and the Cornish town fair. Once, when there was a fire in Cornish, Salinger delivered food to the firemen, Johnson said.
"I don't ever remember his talking about his writing," Johnson said. "He just involved himself in the town, its organizations."
Salinger was a regular at the "Famous Roast Beef Suppers," served at the First Congregational Church of Hartland, Vt., and would arrive two hours early in order to get a good table, reading the paper while he waited. During the last years of his life when he could no longer go to the dinners himself, he would have an attendee pick up a dinner for him, according to Lucia Jackson '84, the pastor at First Congregational Church.
"As long you weren't pursuing him or trying to get an autograph or a picture or talk to him about his writing, if people were just chatting with him and being cordial he was quite friendly," Jackson said in a voicemail message to The Dartmouth. Johnson recalled an incident in which Salinger came to see her to complain about having to pay a dog tax. Despite his apparent displeasure, Salinger was persuaded to pay the tax, Johnson said with a chuckle.
Salinger's move to Cornish "didn't make many ripples" because there were other artists already living in the town, Johnson said. Both Cornish and neighboring Plainfield are centers of the art community, she said.
Although Salinger's death has drawn a series of reporters to Cornish, Tetirick said she thinks the town will continue to protect his privacy.
"Everyone is trying to keep this fable going," Cone said. "It's kind of funny, this legend. The media, they want to maintain an aura about his mysterious hermit ways."
