I am honored and very grateful to you for this award, an award that is given in the name of a man who was a pioneer in the field of psychoanalysis and whose contributions will always be remembered. It was my good fortune that William Silverberg was my teacher, mentor, and friend.

One afternoon last summer, I was sitting on the porch of our summerhouse in Ogunquit, a place where my husband and I had shared many summers with Bill. It is also the place where his book, Childhood Experience and Personal Destiny, was written. I began to think about this moment and I decided that it was time to settle on a topic for my presentation. It occurred to me that I could not honor this occasion more affectionately and meaningfully than to choose a subject that would reflect a part of Silverberg himself. In the Academy newsletter devoted to his memory, the essence of his writings and theories was so well