R.I.P. JD

Two seemingly unrelated things in the news today:
*MSN Money highlighted a piece this morning on things that may soon be obsolete. Included were newspapers and books printed on paper.
*J D Salinger died.

Salinger, of course, is the author of The Catcher in the Rye, Franny and Zooey and numerous well-known short stories. He was famous for his tragically alienated characters, especially teens and young adults.
He didn't have 51 New York Times bestsellers, like James Patterson. But his impact was huge.
A lot of kids rolled their eyes when teachers handed out the permission slips to read The Catcher in the Rye (because of the swearing!) But I was not one of them. I caught Holden Caulfield's angst like a virus. Catcher, along with Season of the Witch (James Leo Herlihy) were my books. Their characters--both, coincidentally, wandering around New York City--were the ones I came to think of as most like me.
The MSN piece was a list of devices that SmartMoney deemed on their way out. Newspaper and magazine subscriptions and books (the analog kind on paper. Electronic books readers, presumably, will continue to exist) made the list.
[Interesting sidebar: The Wall Street Journal "aggregator" reran part of the SmartMoney piece without the reference to print media.]
I like to think that just changing the format won't make that much of a difference. People will still want to read the news and novels, won't they? They'll still need to feed their souls with good fiction.
But the pessimist in me worries. Another story, in the New York Times magazine last Sunday, was a long look at the best-seller machine that is James Patterson. He so dominates the book scene with his pulpy fare that his publisher has employees dedicated just to him. More electronic books, which are cheaper and may need high volume sales to make a profit, may also mean more Pattersons and fewer Salingers.
That prospect makes me feel all alienated and disaffected.

Another thing...interesting about Salinger was the account in Wikipedia of his reclusive lifestyle and his search for enlightenment. Among the belief systems he tried: Zen Buddhism, Kriya yoga, Dianetics (before it was Scientology), Christian Science, urine therapy (don't ask) and orgone energy therapy.
So I see he was a fellow traveler. The article is not clear on whether he ever found happiness, contentment, or whatever he was looking for.