In his paper "Psychoanalyst, U.S.A. 1955," Maxwell Gitelson described "the outlook which derives from the experience of a Doctor of Medicine in the United States who became a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst during the course of the twenty-five years just ending." He here identified himself and his orientation as typical of his psychoanalytic generation. This statement on the one hand was applied to his training and experience.1 It did scant justice, on the other, to his own individual qualities. The term "optimal" in retrospect appears far more appropriate to his characteristics as a clinician, teacher, and leader of our profession. In so defining him, certain salient qualities should be noted. He emphasized at