Remembering James Salter, A 'Writer's Writer' Who Died Friday

Transcript

ARUN RATH, HOST:

Now we remember one of America's great postwar novelists, James Salter. He died Friday in New York at the age of 90. A West Point grad, Salter served as a pilot in the Air Force in the Korean War, but after 12 years in the military, he wanted a different life.

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JAMES SALTER: I've decided to write or parish. It was like starting life from scratch.

RATH: The publication of his first book, "The Hunters," in 1957 won Salter the admiration of writers and critics alike. He then went on to publish several other critically acclaimed works, including the provocative 1967 novel "A Sport And A Pastime" and two short story collections.

Salter even spent time briefly in Hollywood producing documentaries and writing screenplays. When I interviewed him for his last appearance on NPR in 2013, he told me that it was agony to see "The Hunters" poorly adapted to the screen. But at the same time, the Hollywood work was a godsend.

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SALTER: Yeah. I wouldn't have been able to live and write for four or five years if it weren't for that. So although I regretted it on one hand, on the other it was a very lucky thing.

RATH: Salter had come in to discuss "All That Is," the first novel he'd written in decades. The main character observes the power of the novel in America's culture has weakend. I asked Salter if he had the same complaint.

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SALTER: The culture is what it is. It reforms itself. It is freshened by certain things. It is polluted by other things. And it continually revives and presents itself, so it's an unfortunate thing for a certain kind of novelist or maybe for an older novelist. But apart from that, I don't know if it's a grave thing.

RATH: James Salter had that awkward distinction of being called a writer's writer, as well as the most underrated underrated author. He never achieved big sales. By the time we spoke though, it seemed that Salter was finally receiving the recognition he deserved. Even so, James Salter was reserving judgment on James Salter.

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SALTER: I think if you have anything that's read 20 years after your death, you've accomplished something considerable. Beyond that, it's impossible to say.

RATH: James Salter died on Friday. He was 90. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.