The passing of J.D. Salinger at the age of 91 on Wednesday has led us to look back on the reclusive author's life and work. Amidst the lengthier obits and appraisals, there are also small little nuggets emerging, like this one about Salinger's early life: The reclusive writer may have worked as an activities director for Caribbean cruises in his early 20s. Not quite what you'd envision from the author of A Catcher in the Rye and Franny and Zooey, but then again, one can imagine how such a job might have inspired and influenced him (See: "A Perfect Day for Bananafish." (A cruise ship later "inspired" the late, great David Foster Wallace)

('’)Various sources claim that in 1941, the author worked aboard a cruise ship called the MS Kungsholm. It was a key year in Salinger's life; he sold two stories to the New Yorker and dated Oona O'Neil, daughter of playwright Eugene O'Neill. One of the stories, "Slight Rebellion Off Madison," later became a scene in The Catcher in the Rye. The following year he was drafted into the army, while the MS Kungsholm was taken over by the U.S. government and used for the war effort.

Salinger mentioned his cruise ship days in a 1953 interview, but it's unsure if he was fibbing about the experience. Salinger biographer Paul Alexander writes that the author's experience aboard the ship "left such a lasting impression on him that years afterward he would still remember fondly his one real venture into live show business." His short story "Teddy" from Nine Stories takes place on a cruise, while "A Young Girl in 1941 with No Waist at All" also mentions a cruise ship.