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During the early 1950s there was a very popular, dramatic rendering of contemporary news events on American television called ‘You are There!’, featuring the eminent news commentator, Walter Cronkite. It was an engaging documentary of the present with a strongly authentic ring. Tom Kirsch's recounting of his own life and how it intermeshed with the worldwide emergence of Jungian psychology carries such a sense of presence. As you read, you are there with him as he vividly describes his struggle to become a man in his own right with his own kind of creativity, while becoming a key factor in the evolution of the Jungian world.
Tom's parents were James and Hilde Kirsch, analysts originally from Berlin. James had foreseen the great danger to Jews arising in his homeland so the family left Germany in 1933 (pp. 7-8). They went through Switzerland to Palestine, and thence to London in search of a new home. One quickly feels a strong kinship with the family as they seek a safe refuge. We are there with Tom as he is born into the shattered world of WWII London during the terrifying bombings and flights to shelter during the Blitz (p. 9). Because of the Nazi threat to England, the family leaves, making the perilous Atlantic crossing, running the gauntlet of German U-boats. After landing at Ellis Island in New York, they finally end up on the U.S. West Coast in 1940.
The family settled in Los Angeles, but the introverted Hilde Kirsch never felt deeply at home with Southern California culture (p. 11). On the other hand, James took to the scene well, perhaps partly due to the fact that he had spent his childhood in sunny Guatemala. There was intermittent tension in the family, and nearly divorce. Hilde tended to turn to her young son for companionship, and their intimacy was a crucial factor in his development (p. 21).
Little Tom had a British accent but quickly squelched it due to the reaction of his peers in kindergarten (p. 12). His parents seemed ‘different’ because they did su