As you know, reclusive author J.D. Salinger died. But did you know Salinger also worked in PR?

According to one timeline of his life, he did PR work in the Army. Here's the scoop.

He was drafted into the Army in 1942, after first receiving a medical deferment one year earlier due to a heart condition. In 1943, Salinger was promoted to the rank of staff sergeant and transferred to Patterson Field in Fairfield, Ohio, where he performed public relations work before joining the Army's counter-intelligence unit and heading off to Europe to fight in World War II.

This timeline tells the story of Salinger’s days in the service.

Yesterday, I wrote that President Obama planned to highlight Indianapolis PR and advertising firm, TrendyMinds, in his State of the Union speech. The PR firm had experienced 200 percent growth during the recession.

I watched the whole speech—though I did leave the room once, briefly—and didn’t hear the president mention this PR firm. Did I miss it?

Word of the president’s plan to mention the PR agency came from an employee at TrendyMinds. I’ve scheduled an interview tomorrow with the firm’s founder, Trevor Yager. I’ll let you know.

The Washington Post did note Wednesday night that Yager was sitting with Michelle Obama during the speech.

Indianapolis-based PR pro Trevor Yager plans to attend President Obama’s State of the Union address Wednesday night.

Did he land a plane in a river?

No — well, not that I know of. Instead, Yager’s PR and advertising agency, TrendyMinds, has experienced 200 percent growth and given back to the community. The president plans to highlight the agency for these accomplishments.

In 2009, the 15-year-old TrendyMinds doubled its employees, gained 15 new accounts, and underwent a renovation to accommodate the massive growth. And, according to its Web site, the company is still hiring (an account coordinator).

In terms of philanthropy, TrendyMinds, which is a certified gay-owned business by the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, awarded $50,000 of in-kind work to eight non-profits last year. For 2010, the agency plans to give away $150,000 of work to 12 nonprofits.

“We feel so fortunate to be in such a fantastic position,” Vicki Bohlsen, principal at TrendyMinds, said. “We’re thrilled the president has recognized our success and, in doing so, recognizes the value of public relations. Our industry isn’t going anywhere.”

Yesterday, I received an e-mail regarding the story I wrote about semicolons for Ragan.com. The e-mail came from Trevor Butterworth—if that is your real name—an Irish writer based in Washington, D.C.

He offered his congratulations on my article and then shared a piece he wrote in 2005 for the Financial Times, in which he defends the semicolon at length. This is good stuff for punctuation fans.

“Indeed, part of the semicolon’s mystique is the way that it wantonly gives itself to great writing without offering a clear rule for lesser writers to follow,” Butterworth wrote. “This has perturbed pedants everywhere English is written, leading to the widespread conviction that the semicolon should, on principle, be avoided.”

Here’s Mr. Butterworth’s story in full.

Someone heard the cries for a sarcasm font and answered them. Behold, SarcMark, a punctuation mark you can download to your phone or computer to indicate sarcasm.

Finally, friends, family and colleagues will understand your wit—and all it costs is $1.99.

But wait, if you order now, you’ll get not one, but two SarcMarks for absolutely no charge. That’s two SarcMarks for just $1.99.

But that’s not all they're selling. If you call right now, they’ll throw in two SarcMarks, plus an IndiffPoint—free. What’s an IndiffPoint? It’s a symbol that will show you really don’t care about this at all. Why write “meh” when you can say it in a symbol? "Talk to the IndiffPoint," you’ll tell people.

So that's two SarcMarks, one IndiffPoint—hold on! They’ll throw in an extra IndiffPoint for free. So that’s two SarcMarks and two IndiffPoints for just $1.99. Do you have a Visa card? If you use that Visa card today, they’ll even throw in a free Slap Chop: Go ahead, slap those troubles away with a slap chop.

Just kidding, about all of that—except the SarcMark for $1.99. That’s legit.

UPDATE APPENDED

Sigh. I wish I was cooper black italic. Alas, I’m universal—it’s my typeface, or so says a design firm called Pentagram.

Want to find out your typeface? Pentagram has an easy questionnaire that takes about one minute to complete. Once you’re done, it will tell you your typeface.

Make sure your speakers are turned on. If you’re tuning in from the office you might want to put on your headphones.

Here’s the link, the password is “character” (no quotation marks).

And, for the record, I disagree that my typeface is universal.

(Thanks, Mike, for sharing this with me!)

UPDATE: If you'd like another diversion related to visuals, check out a fabulous Web site called Cheese or Font. Here's what happens: The site gives you a word that is either a cheese or font. You have to decide which it is. Quite simple, really. Here's an example: Halda—cheese or font?

Thanks Ragan executive editor Rob Reinalda (he's word_czar on Twitter) for this gem.

On her show last night, MSNBC pundit Rachel Maddow reported on a story that had been circulating in the blogosphere—that 19-year-old Bristol Palin, daughter of Sarah Palin, had launched her own PR company.

The story is true, sort of.

Back in September, Bristol Palin filed papers in Alaska establishing a limited liability corporation (LLC) called BSMP, which are her initials. The LLC provides lobbying, public relations and consulting services.

Does this mean you’ll be rubbing elbows with the younger Palin at the next PRSA conference? Probably not.

Bristol Palin is a spokesperson for a pro abstinence organization called Candies. She set up the LLC for tax purposes, so she can be paid as an incorporated entity instead of as an individual. The whole story is below or you can watch it by clicking here.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Lake Superior State University released its 35th annual “List of Words Banished from the Queen's English for Mis-use, Over-use and General Uselessness.” A favorite buzzword from the corporate communications and social media worlds made the list — transparency.

Other words and phrases on the list are shovel-ready, czar, tweet, app and sexting.