James Salter

James Salter was born in 1926 and raised in New York City. After graduating from West Point in 1945, he entered the U.S. Army Air Force and served as a fighter pilot, flying more than one hundred combat missions during the Korean war. Following the publication of his first novel in 1957, Salter resigned his commission. He has earned his living as a writer ever since. He is the father of four children and divides his time between Aspen, Colorado and Bridgehampton, New York. Salter has written five novels: The Hunter (1957), The Arm of Flesh (1961), A Sport and a Pastime (1967), Light Years (1975), and Solo Faces (1979); the screenplay Downhill Racer; and Dusk and Other Stories, a collection of short fiction that won the PEN/Faulkner Award in 1989. He has been awarded a grant from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters.