Deluged with mail after his discovery of the double helix, Francis Crick began sending a printed card in response to invitations: He modeled it on a similar one made by Edmund Wilson: In 1976 freelance writer Betty Eppes managed to talk to J.D. Salinger for 20 minutes. “He said he didn’t believe in giving autographs. It was a meaningless gesture. He told me never to sign my name for anyone else. It was all right for actors and actresses to sign their names, because all they had to give were their faces and names. But it was different with writers....