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When it comes to reminiscing about psychoanalysis, I could think of no better person than Harold Blum, known to many as “a man for all seasons,” to talk about his incredible trajectory through psychoanalysis from 1956 through the present—60 actively productive and creative years. I knew before I met with him that I wanted him to reminisce on some very specific areas:
His experiences during the years 1973-1983 when he was the second-ever editor of the Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association (JAPA).
His experiences in organizing and conducting the many springtime conferences on Psychoanalysis and Art in Florence.
His experience as Director of the Sigmund Freud Archives, when there was material to be released and forces holding back that release.
As it happened, I had only to throw the ball to Harold and he ran with it, covering all three areas I had hoped he would, and then some. I believe readers will find Harold Blum's reminiscences unmatched.
HKG: It is so good to see you again. Actually, I've known you since the time I submitted my very first two articles to JAPA when you were the editor. The first was “On Narcissism, Romanticism, and Creativity,” and the other, “On Love, Dying, and Liebestod Fantasies.” Both were accepted and published after I took seriously every word on the pages and pages of your thoughtful critiques. I was so pleased that you gave my early submissions such careful attention—it was in the mid-70s through early 80s, and people would say to me, “Oh, JAPA would never ever publish an article by a Clinical Psychologist unless it were on applied psychoanalysis.” Looking back, I do see that before mine, very, very few articles by psychologists had been published in JAPA, and the ones that were had been written mainly by research candidates trained by waiver at institutes of “the American.” So let me start by asking you: Have you had any thoughts about psychologists being limited to certain psychoanalytic areas in publishing their work? And if y