An Appreciation of Tony Kris

It didn't have to turn out this way. A young man born to the psychoanalytic manor, so to speak, could have developed into a not so young man who elevated himself above others and dedicated himself to the preservation of orthodoxy and the enhancement of his power. Instead, somehow, we have quite the opposite: a man who has lived a life of generosity, a life of personal and professional growth based on a fearless soul-searching of himself, a life of love and generativity. Love of the intellectual, love of the sensual, love of loving. The somehow of how people develop into who they are is always something of a mystery, and so it is with Tony. Somehow, he evolved into someone who embodies the Aristotelian virtue of balance. Balance between respect for tradition and appreciating the necessity for radical innovation. Balance between a healthy regard for self, and a capacity to admire and sacrifice for others. Balance between providing a place for the passions, but also for temperance and reason.

In response to a question about who were Tony's major influences, he wrote the following in an email: “There were so many influences. Anna Freud and my father were my best teachers, but my mother's way with patients was probably even more influential. Semrad added a depth that I have aimed to achieve. Jocke Murray helped me understand my own narcissism, though my formulations were different from his. The work with psychotic adolescents drew my attention to ambivalence.” A glance at Tony's CV reveals a broad range of experiences. Notable were training at Mass Mental Health Center in its heyday, directing a unit at the old Boston State Hospital dedicated to the treatment of psychotic adolescents, and a two-year stint doing empirical research in the department of neuroendocrinology at the Walter Reed Institute of Research while in the Army Reserves (yes, you can accurately call him Captain Kris). In addition to the influential psychoanalytic papers which we all