They Were in New York

To the Editors:

Perhaps it was Sue Halpern’s New England connection (Middlebury) that led her to identify Eric Kandel’s psychoanalytic mentors, Ernst and Marianne Kris, as “Cambridge psychoanalysts” [“Thanks for the Memory,” NYR, October 5]. They were in fact New York psychoanalysts, members and teachers at the New York Psychoanalytic Institute. Their children, Anton and Anna Kris, were students at Harvard, and it was through his friendship with them that he met their parents. One wishes one might have been able to audit their conversations.

Aaron H. Esman, M.D.
Weill Medical College,
Cornell University
New York City

Sue Halpern replies:

It was not, in fact, being situated in New England that led me to conclude that the Krises were Cambridge psychoanalysts, but Eric Kandel’s description of their influence on his life and the amount of time spent in their company. I assumed, wrongly, that they were less than a train ride away. Thank you for the clarification.