Jule Nydes: Psychologist, Psychoanalyst, Human Being

Shortly after World War II Jule came to Columbia University to do graduate work in clinical psychology. He brought with him a variety of prior experiences in living which were particularly pertinent to furthering his career in psychology. He had a background in labor organization, military service, and psychotherapy. It was easy to picture him in these diverse roles. He had a charming manner but also power and impact. As he got older he also added girth, developing into a man of goodly size. His voice could boom, command, and control. He therefore arrived at Columbia as a formidable fellow.

I first met him when he registered for a graduate course in personality theory of which I was the graduate assistant. The course requirements included several papers on books to be chosen from a very long recommended reading list. After the first class he approached me and told me that there were other books on personality theory that held greater interest for him than those on the list. Although the student revolution was still two decades away, his seriousness of purpose and scholarship made his request for an opportunity to make the course requirements more relevant to his interests seem reasonable. I told him I would consider any readings he suggested, and if they were books with which I was familiar, I would accept the substitutions. His selections were Karen Horney's New Ways in Psychoanalysis, Erich Fromm's Escape from Freedom, and Wilhelm Reich's Character Analysis. I recall being reluctant to approve Character Analysis because the concepts were not clear enough to me at that time for me to be sure I could appropriately evaluate Jule's paper on the book. Typically, he got me to agree by convincing me that we could make a joint educational venture of it and have a conference