James Salter, who has died aged 90, was an American writer whose intimately detailed novels and short stories kept a small but devoted audience in his thrall for more than half a century.
Salter wrote slowly, exactingly and, by almost every critic's estimation, beautifully. Michael Dirda once observed in the Washington Post that "he can, when he wants, break your heart with a sentence".
But he never achieved the broad popularity he craved. “You can’t be admitted to the ranks of writers of importance unless you have sales,” he said.
His first novel, The Hunters, from 1956, written when he was a fighter pilot in the US air force, centres on the relationship of two fliers, an honourable veteran of the Korean War who cannot live up to his past triumphs, and a pilot under his command who is preternaturally lucky but morally underendowed. His powers of observation were equally keen in his valedictory novel, All That Is, published in 2013.
Strung between them was a series of novels, including the two he wanted most to be remembered for – A Sport and a Pastime (1967) and Light Years (1975) – along with two collections of short stories and a memoir.
Jewish heritage
He was born James Horowitz in Passaic, New Jersey, to L George Horowitz, a real estate broker, and the former Mildred Scheff. He went to West Point and joined the army air corps. He took the pseudonym Salter – later his legal name – to shield him from being criticised by the military. He also wanted to disguise his Jewish heritage, not wanting to be seen as just “another Jewish writer from New York”.
Salter left the air force in 1957 to write full-time. He is survived by his widow, Kay Eldredge, two daughters and a son from his first marriage to Ann Altemus and a son from his second marriage.