Salter was born James Horowitz on June 10, 1925, in Passaic, New Jersey. He grew up in New York City where his father, George, was an economist and real estate broker. Throughout his youth Salter was a sheltered only child, good student, and avid reader. He attended public schools in New York, leading to his graduation from Horace Mann at the age of seventeen.

In 1942 Salter followed in the footsteps of his father and entered West Point, where he graduated as a pilot in 1945. He was stationed in the Philippines in 1946, followed by Japan and Hawaii. After returning to school for a master’s degree at Georgetown University, he volunteered for duty in the Korean War, where he joined a fighter wing that was charged with the task of countering enemy MiG jet fighters. He logged over one hundred combat missions. The experience provided the basis of his first novel, The Hunters (1956), which he wrote while still serving in the Air Force. The book realistically portrayed the lives of pilots during war and quickly became a classic of aviation literature. It was made into a film starring Robert Mitchum in 1958.

Prior to the publication of his first novel, Salter married Ann Altemus, with whom he eventually had four children. With the success of his first novel—and with his growing family—Salter made the difficult decision to leave the military and throw himself into writing fulltime. He published a second novel, The Arm of Flesh in 1961.

In 1967, Salter’s third novel, A Sport and a Pastime, forever changed the trajectory of his career. While his first two books had earned him a reputation for candid depictions of military life, the third entered new territory, describing an Ivy League dropout who begins an affair with a young shopgirl in provincial France. Powerful and sensual, A Sport and a Pastime shocked readers and drew praise from critics for its sophisticated style. Two more novels followed: Light Years (1975), about a deteriorating marriage, and Solo Faces (1979), about the classic American loner and romantic figure, in this case a mountain climber.

Salter has published many award-winning short stories, and his collection Dusk and Other Stories received the PEN/Faulkner Award in 1988. He also worked for a number of years as a screenwriter, starting with the script for Downhill Racer (1969), starring Robert Redford. It was during this time that Salter and his wife divorced. He later met journalist and playwright Kay Eldredge, with whom he has one son.

Salter lives with Eldredge in New York City and Colorado.

Salter with his mother. Salter at age fourteen, while a student at the Horace Mann School. A Delahaye coupe, the car that Salter first glimpsed in a dealership when visiting Paris in his twenties. A version of this car would play a central role in A Sport and a Pastime, and Salter would eventually own a similar one. A 1952 photo of Salter standing in front of his jet fighter, an F-86, in Korea during the Korean War. The small red star indicates a kill. Salter with his first wife, Ann, and twins, James and Claude, in 1962. Salter directing the film Three, starring Charlotte Rampling and Sam Waterson, in 1968. Salter in a Paris hotel room around the age of forty-eight, circa 1973. Salter at age fifty-seven with his daughter, Nina, now a publisher in Paris, in 1982. Salter with wife Kay on New Year’s Eve, 1986. Salter with wife Kay and son Theo in France, 1988 Salter in 2011.

Images courtesy of James Salter and Checkerboard Film Foundation.