Editorial: Notion of decency seems to slip away

Sunday, June 27, 1999 | 9:27 a.m.

If anyone had doubts that shame is increasingly in short supply, consider that last week writer Joyce Maynard sold at auction 14 love letters written to her by reclusive author J.D. Salinger from 1972-73. Obviously when Salinger wrote the letters he never thought they would be made public.

Despite Salinger's objections to the sale, Maynard had no qualms about letting the world see someone else's most private thoughts. "It's a financial decision," she matter-of-factly told the Associated Press. Nothing seems sacred anymore and everything seems fair game in a culture where money trumps principle in such an intimate matter.

There is a happy ending to this story, however. Peter Norton, a California philanthropist, bought the letters for $156,500 on Tuesday and promised to return them to Salinger. At least someone had the decency to do the right thing.

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