NOVEMBER 2004 UPDATE FROM THE WILHELM REICH MUSEUM Table of Contents The Orgone Energy Accumulator & Alternative Medicine Trials We Have Speakers Available Distortions and Inaccuracies on the Internet Cancer Cures, Mind Control, and the C.I.A. Coming in December: Our New Website Rangeley, Maine Reminisces About Reich Other Items in the Reading Room American Odyssey: Letters and Journals 1940-47 Rangeley Winters and Rental Cabins The Wilhelm Reich Museum and The Wilhelm Reich Infant Trust thank you for your interest and support. To those of you who are new this month to our e-mail list and have not read our previous Updates, please contact us if you'd like to receive copies. All names on this list—as well as the names of Museum visitors, conference attendees, and bookstore customers—are held in strictest confidence and are not shared with any other organization. If at any time you wish to be removed from our e-mail list, please let us know.   NEXT YEAR’S SUMMER CONFERENCE (July 18-22, 2005) THE ORGONE ENERGY ACCUMULATOR AND “ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE” TRIALS We are currently putting together next year’s summer conference. It will be a logical and useful follow-up to our 2004 Conference, “The Orgone Energy Accumulator: Its Scientific and Medical Use,” which was a significant step forward in presenting over sixty years of scientific and medical data involving the use of the accumulator. This included a presentation by Jorgos Kavouras, M.D., who has used the orgone accumulator for twenty-five years as the principal therapeutic tool in his general practice in Germany and Greece. His book, Healing With Orgone Energy, which documents over forty case studies with the accumulator, will be published soon in Germany. The 2004 Conference culminated in a focused Roundtable Discussion that specifically addressed questions and concerns about how we might pursue opportunities for medical trials of the accumulator herein America. The need to explore these issues in greater detail so that we might craft a practical course of action for the future compels us to expand and deepen this discussion in our 2005 Conference. For example, today more than ever before there are numerous well-financed alternative medical trials involving a plethora of promising new treatments. It is imperative that these trials provide a context in which the American medical community will seriously and honestly study the orgone energy accumulator and the extensive medical data documented by Reich, his colleagues, and others. While the particulars of our 2005 Conference are still in the formative stages, general themes and goals will include: Establishing the credibility of the orgone energy accumulator as an alternative medical tool by providing an overview of the most compelling medical data from its invention in 1940 until today. Providing a credible context for the accumulator within the tradition of existing alternative medicines (particularly those that are the subject of medical trials) by presenting an overview of current alternative medicines that bear some similarities to medical orgone therapy. A presentation by a physician(s) with extensive experience, success, and expertise in alternative medicine to address the procedures, obstacles, regulations, etc. that must be considered when pursuing opportunities for medical trials. A Roundtable Discussion that begins to identify the basic steps for The Wilhelm Reich Infant Trust’s course of action for the immediate future. We’ll provide more details about the 2005 Summer Conference as we finalize them.  WE HAVE SPEAKERS AVAILABLE Are you planning an event or are you part of an organization where you’d like to hear more about the life and legacy of Wilhelm Reich? Or more about the Museum or The Wilhelm Reich Infant Trust? Mary Higgins and Kevin Hinchey are each available to speak to your group. For more details, please contact us.  DISTORTIONS & INACCURACIES ON THE INTERNET Most technologies are essentially neutral; how we use them determines their value. And so it is with the Internet which has provided both a technological and virtual platform for all manner of self-proclaimed writers, journalists, scholars, researchers and “experts.” While we acknowledge the positive aspects of the Internet as an educational and communications tool, as a virtual forum for online discussions, and as a transformational force for commerce, sadly we cannot ignore its more alarming attributes. We refer specifically to websites that, for whatever reason, contain articles, essays, opinion pieces, and histories of Reich’s life and work which demonstrate carelessness and ignorance of basic facts. And frequently when these website authors include a bibliography (which most don’t), their lists of references contain little or nothing actually written by Reich. While no one should deny the value of secondary sources in broadening one’s understanding of any subject, they are seldom, if ever, a suitable substitute for primary materials. And we confidently assert that no one can achieve an honest and accurate appreciation of Reich and his work without reading a reasonable number of his books. Furthermore, we question whether anyone can be qualified to offer a credible opinion about Reich’s life and work without having read a number of his books. It’s understandable why those biased against Reich—or simply uninterested in him— would play fast and loose with the facts. What is more perplexing and disheartening is the litany of misstatements, inaccuracies, and distortions being perpetuated by those professing to be admirers and advocates of Reich. While no one would argue with anyone’s fundamental right to debate, argue, and offer opinions about the merits of Reich’s life and legacy, ensuring the correctness of basic facts about Reich requires a more objective, stringent criteria. To disseminate misstatements of easily verifiable facts about Reich is either intellectually dishonest or intellectually lazy—two qualities that historically have always undermined truth and genuine knowledge.  CANCER CURES, MIND CONTROL, AND THE C.I.A. Although we’d like to think that simply ignoring distortions and inaccuracies on the Internet might be the wisest response, experience teaches us otherwise. So addressing a few examples is in order: To be blunt, there is no excuse for anyone declaring that Wilhelm Reich claimed the orgone energy accumulator could cure cancer, when in his published writings—available at the Museum and in libraries and bookstores—Reich repeatedly stated otherwise. Furthermore, Reich wrote that the only cure for cancer was prevention, and that tumors themselves were not the disease, but merely local manifestations of a deeper, systemic disorder. Assertions that cloudbusting is a technique that Reich developed for “mind control” are disturbingly prevalent on the Internet. Nowhere in any of Reich’s literature, including the CORE bulletins, the Orgone Energy Bulletins, and Contact With Space—which are available at the Museum bookstore and in select libraries—does Reich ever mention cloudbusting as having anything to do with “mind control.” Finally, although Reich did notify numerous government agencies about his work— including the A.E.C., the Patent Office, the Committee on Medical Research, the U.S. Weather Bureau, and, on a few occasions, the C.I.A.—there is no justification for the following website declarations: that starting in 1947 Reich was secretly working under contract for the C.I.A., and that some of his “technologies” ultimately were used for the so-called “Philadelphia Experiment.” While all of these outlandish assertions may satisfy a need for drama, mysticism, and conspiracy theories, they are factually incorrect, irresponsible, and destructive. Considering how the truth about Reich was distorted during his lifetime, there is no defense for the intellectual laziness and dishonesty which too often passes for genuine knowledge and understanding on some Internet websites.  COMING IN DECEMBER: OUR NEW WEBSITE Establishing a significant Internet presence has been one of our strategic goals for some time. And since budget and staffing constraints determine how we prioritize our projects, a new website has been a long time in coming. We apologize for not having been a more useful online resource for information about Reich’s life and legacy, and for perhaps being little more than an online catalogue. Our new website will be launched the first week of December, and, like most of us, it will be a work-in-progress. Which means we’ll be adding more content and visuals every month. Over a period of three years, our current website received over 57,000 hits, meaning that there is a world-wide audience that, at the very least, is curious about Reich and willing to invest time to find out something about him. Our goal, then, is to provide a re-designed, higher-functionality site where visitors could linger and browse through a wide-range of information. At the time of its launch, our new website’s features will include: new architecture and formatting biographical information, with more to come reports from past Conferences, with more to come archive of our monthly e-mail Updates improved Museum Bookstore page online purchasing from the Museum Bookstore Future additions will include: more scientific information historic photos of Reich and Orgonon photos of Orgonon today and its activities up-to-date information about the Wilhelm Reich Archives and much more Because our website serves as our arm into the world and is often a visitor’s first point of contact with Reich’s life and legacy, we’re committed to making this site a premier resource for concise, accurate, and reliable information about Reich, his work, the Reich Archives, the Museum, and The Wilhelm Reich Infant Trust. We’re grateful to Phil Eskew of Bloomington, Indiana, for his services and expertise as our new webmaster. A graduate of the School of Library and Information Science at Indiana University, Phil is an archivist and an experienced webmaster whose experience includes assistance with the design and maintenance of the website for Indiana University’s Main Library. Please visit our new site the first week of December and tell us what you think.  RANGELEY, MAINE REMINISCES ABOUT REICH In the late 1970s, Museum consultant Barbara Bruce conducted a series of taped interviews with local residents to collect and preserve their memories of Reich. These audiotapes are part of the research materials available for study in our new Reading Room, located in the Conference Building (formerly Reich’s Student Laboratory). Those who were interviewed include: Elden Collins, construction supervisor of the Orgone Energy Observatory (1948-49) Wanda Ellis Ferguson, secretary of the Orgone Institute Press (1950-51) Lila Ellis, housekeeper at Orgonon (1949-50) Phyllis Philbrick, housekeeper at Orgonon (early 1950s) Vance Oakes, local businessman, proprietor of the Main St. Market Mondell Boutilier, plumbing & heating contractor at Orgonon (1948) Charles Herrien, woodcutter at Orgonon (1940s - 50s) Kathy Searles, daughter of Orgonon caretaker Tom Ross (and currently a Museum tour guide) Mr. & Mrs. Frank Badger, owners of Badger’s Camps adjacent to Orgonon  OTHER ITEMS IN THE READING ROOM The Chester M. Raphael Reading Room is the official title of this latest improvement in the Conference Building, named after one of Reich’s students. Dr. Raphael studied and worked with Reich from 1946 until 1957, and was a staunch supporter of the Museum and The Wilhelm Reich Infant Trust. Dr. Raphael passed away in March, 2001. The Reading Room provides access to the largest selection of Reich’s published work anywhere, as well as hundreds of newspaper and magazine clippings about Reich from the 1950s until today. This compilation of articles, book reviews, letters to the editor, advertisements and announcements is a rare and valuable resource for tracking the widely divergent opinions and interest about Reich since his death. Most revealing and regrettable in these materials is how the rumors and distortions about Reich have stubbornly endured for decades. A second collection contains equally intriguing newspaper and magazine clippings about Reich from Europe. The Reading Room is open during regular Museum Office hours, Monday - Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., or by special appointment.  AMERICAN ODYSSEY - LETTERS & JOURNALS (1940-1947) Since we’ve mentioned the importance of primary materials, ensuring the correctness of basic facts, and our commitment to accurate, reliable information, we’d like to call attention to American Odyssey (published in 1999) as one of the most valuable biographical resources about Reich. Surprisingly this book never sold well, and even in Europe—where Reich’s titles are far more popular than in America—it never found a wide audience. And yet it remains the best extemporaneous account of some of the most significant and dramatic events in Reich’s life: Invents the orgone energy accumulator (1940) Discovers atmospheric orgone energy in Maine (1940) Meets with Einstein (1941) Treats terminal cancer patients with accumulator (1941) Detained as an enemy alien at Ellis Island (1941) Purchases a farm in Maine, calls it Orgonon (1942) Develops orgone biophysics The Mildred Brady articles are published (1947) Discovers a motor force in orgone energy (1947) FDA begins investigating Reich (1947) If you haven’t yet read American Odyssey, we highly recommend it.  RANGELEY WINTERS AND RENTAL COTTAGES If you enjoy downhill skiing, cross-country skiing, snowmobiling, snowshoeing, or simply the beauty of a secluded winter landscape, our two cottages on Orgonon’s 175-acre property may be just what you’re looking for. The smaller cottage we call Bunchberry was originally built by Reich as a study, while the larger cottage known as Tamarack provided living quarters for him and his family. Saddleback Mountain—now under new ownership and in the midst of a multi-million dollar improvement—is less than 10 miles away. Orgonon’s system of woodland trails is perfect for snowshoeing and winter hiking. And snowmobile trails skirt the edges of our property. We still have availabilities, so contact us at (207) 864-3443 or at: wreich@... And don’t forget that Special Tours of the Orgone Energy Observatory can be arranged throughout the year. UNTIL NEXT MONTH... Your feedback and involvement are important to us, and we eagerly solicit your response to our news and your participation in our activities and initiatives. Please share this Update with any friends, family, or colleagues who may be interested in the life and legacy of Wilhelm Reich and the good works of the Museum and The Wilhelm Reich Infant Trust. And if you have any questions about Reich, the Museum, and the Trust, please contact us. Thank you again for your friendship and support. | top | Last Updated: 10/30/2005 Comments:wreich@... Copyright 2004-2005, The Wilhelm Reich Infant Trust

----- Original Message -----

From: Wilhelm Reich Museum

To: update.6.M_R@...

Sent: Saturday, October 29, 2005 1:22 PM

Subject: October 2005 Update-Wilhelm Reich Museum

OCTOBER 2005 UPDATE
FROM
THE WILHELM REICH MUSEUM

Hello.

The Wilhelm Reich Museum and The Wilhelm Reich Infant Trust
thank you for your interest and support. For those of you new to
this list, we assure you that none of the names on this e-mail list—
nor the names of Museum visitors, conference attendees, or bookstore
customers—are shared with any other individuals or organizations.
If at any time you wish to be removed from this list, please let us know.

All of our previous Updates, dating from March 2004, are archived
on our website at www.wilhelmreichmuseum.org.

SUMMER CONFERENCE
JULY 17 – 21, 2006

THE LEGACY OF WILHELM REICH:
NEW SCHOLARSHIP, PROJECTS, AND DIRECTIONS

We are putting together next summer’s conference which, in keeping
with our emphasis on moving forward, will focus on current research,
scholarship and practical applications of Reich’s work. Presenters
will include:

Birgit Johler
Assistant Curator - Freud Museum, Vienna

Elizabeth Ann Danto, Ph.D.
Author of Freud’s Free Clinics

Mary Boyd Higgins
Director – Wilhelm Reich Museum

Conny Huthsteiner, M.D.
Psychiatrist and Orgone Therapist

Jorgos Kavouras, M.D.
Physician and author of Heilen Mit Orgonenergie
[Healing with Orgone Energy]

Ronald Maio, D.O.
Director – University of Michigan Injury Research Center

Stephan Simonian, M.D.
Psychiatrist and Orgone Therapist

James Strick, Ph.D – author of Sparks of Life: Darwinism and
the Victorian Debates Over Spontaneous Generation, and co-author
of The Living Universe: NASA and the Development of Astrobiology.

REICH EXHIBIT IN VIENNA – OCTOBER 2007

In our next Update, we’ll have more details about an exciting project
that The Wilhelm Reich Museum, the Freud Museum of Vienna, and
the Jewish Museum Vienna (www.jmw.at) are involved in: a major
Exhibit about Wilhelm Reich on the occasion of the 50th year since
his death. The Jewish Museum Vienna (www.jmw.at) is the official
organizer of this event, and will provide the funding and the venue
for the Exhibit which will open in October 2007. More next month. 

INSTALLING THE NEW FURNACE

This week our new furnace for the Orgone Energy Observatory is
being installed, to replace the original one from 1948. And not a
moment too soon. We’ve already been hit with winter-like weather:
snow, cold temperatures, and icy winds.

Once again, we’d like to thank our friends and supporters who
responded so promptly and generously to our solicitation for
the necessary funds to purchase and install a new heating system.
Our gratitude also for the kind words and expressions of support
for the Trust and the Museum which many of you sent along with
your financial contributions. That the efforts of the Trust and
the Museum have affected so many of you means a lot to us.

And special thanks to a generous anonymous donor who was
contacted by the Maine Community Foundation (MCF) in
response to our MCF grant application. Our thanks, of course,
to MCF, as well.

But whatever the amount of your contribution, be assured that
any donation to any of our needs is truly a donation to everything
that we do. 

STATISTICS FROM THE MUSEUM

Our Museum website (www.wilhelmreichmuseum.org)
averages between 83 and 84 hits per day.

The Orgone Energy Observatory is open for public tours
approximately 50 days a year (in July, August, September)
with special tours year-round by appointment.

2005 summer tourism in Rangeley was down by about 25%.

2003 number of Orgone Energy Observatory visitors: 1082
2004 number of Orgone Energy Observatory visitors: 857
2005 number of Orgone Energy Observatory visitors: 638

2003 income from tours & Museum Bookstore sales: $10,307
2004 income from tours & Museum Bookstore sales: $ 9,003
2005 income from tours & Museum Bookstore sales: $ 7,494

BACK IN PRINT: THE BION EXPERIMENTS

For years The Bion Experiments – On the Origin of Life has been
out of print, and available in the Museum bookstore only in bound
xerox copies. Thanks to the collaborative efforts of our publisher
Farrar Straus & Giroux, and Lightning Source—a books-on-demand
publishing house—it will soon be available in paperback.

This book represents a cornerstone in Reich's scientific development.
It documents a series of experiments conducted in Oslo in 1936-37 in
which Reich applied the formula of tension-charge-discharge-relaxation,
derived from his research on the orgasm function, to the microscopic
biological world, thereby opening a route to an understanding of the
origin of life. This work is divided into two parts: the first, a detailed
report on the experiments; the second, Reich's conclusions and an
exposition of his research method.

In the past few years the partnership of Farrar, Straus & Giroux and
Lightning Source has brought the following titles back into print:

The Bio-electrical Investigation of Sexuality and Anxiety
The Cancer Biopathy
Children of the Future
Ether, God and Devil/Cosmic Superimposition
The Murder of Christ
People in Trouble
Reich Speaks of Freud
Selected Writings: An Introduction to Orgonomy
The Sexual Revolution

REICH, THE MOVIEGOER

Reich enjoyed the movies and, like many who emigrated to America,
the films he saw influenced his vision of American culture. This
short-list of some of his favorites provides a fascinating insight
into the different themes and plots that Reich found particularly
relevant to his life and work:

Bad Day at Black Rock (1955)
Children of Love
The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell (1955)
A Day of Happiness
The Day of Triumph (1953)
The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951)
Executive Suite (1954)
From Here to Eternity (1953)
High Noon (1951)
Martin Luther (1953)
Miss Sadie Thompson (1953)
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
Roman Holiday (1953)
The Story of Louis Pasteur (1936)
Walk East on Beacon (1952)
War of the Worlds (1953)
Westward the Women (1951)
You Can’t Take It With You (1938)

Bad Day at Black Rock, The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell,
High Noon, Martin Luther, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,
and The Story of Louis Pasteur all share a similar theme of a
single individual standing up for truth against the complacency
and corruption of communities and institutions. It’s rather
haunting to think of Reich watching Bad Day at Black Rock
and The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell in 1955 in the midst
of his escalating legal problems with the U.S. government.

The Day of Triumph is a feature film about the last days
of Jesus Christ.

The Day the Earth Stood Still and The War of the Worlds
depict two different visions of extraterrestrials landing on
earth. One offers a hopeful interaction, while the other
presents a war with malignant forces from outer space.
Reich specifically references The Day the Earth Stood Still
in his book Contact With Space.

Executive Suite is about the politics of a corporate power
struggle. And perhaps resonated for Reich because of its
portrayal of individual ambition and armored character
structure thwarting any chance for true work democracy.

From Here to Eternity, Miss Sadie Thompson, Roman Holiday,
and Westward the Women all deal with the powerful instinct
and struggle for genuine emotional and sexual contact, and
the consequences of the repression and frustration of that instinct.

Walk East on Beacon was one of many anti-Communist
films produced in the 1950s, depicting an FBI agent fighting
Soviet espionage in Boston. It most likely reflected Reich’s
concerns about Communist influence here in America.

You Can’t Take It With You, the Oscar-winning film adaptation
of the Kaufman & Hart play, brims with optimism and family
life and love at its most spontaneous and unarmored. How
refreshing that it was one of Reich’s favorites.

Unfortunately, we’re unsure about the titles Children of Love
and A Day of Happiness. Children of Love might be an
obscure foreign film of that name from 1953, or possibly
the more well-known French film The Children of Paradise
[Les Enfants du Paradise] from 1946. And the only movie
title we can find that approximates A Day of Happiness is
the Jacques Tati small town comedy Jour de Fete.

SAYING “THANK-YOU” TO MARY HIGGINS
FOR A LIFETIME OF SERVICE TO
THE WILHELM REICH INFANT TRUST

On October 21st, approximately fifty friends and supporters of the
Museum and Trust gathered at The Williams Club in New York City
to celebrate Mary Higgins’ 80th birthday and express a long overdue
“Thank-you” for her nearly half-century of dedication and service
to the Trust.

Speakers included Trust attorney Len Kolleeny; Bob Pawlowski,
former publisher and editor of the Rangeley [Maine] Highlander;
educators Wilbur and Rachel Rippy of the Board of Directors of
The Wilhelm Reich Infant Trust; and Kevin Hinchey, Associate
Director of The Wilhelm Reich Museum. With music provided
by jazz pianist Andy Kahn.

The following is the text of Mr. Hinchey’s introductory remarks:

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS
WILLIAMS CLUB - OCTOBER 21, 2005

Good evening, everyone, and welcome. Thank you all so much
for coming. This—the formal presentation of the evening—
will be brief, and will comprise remarks from several individuals
…followed by a musical selection by our good friend, jazz pianist
Andy Kahn, featuring songs chosen especially for this occasion.

We’re here tonight, quite simply, to say a long overdue “thank-you”
to a unique and remarkable woman who—since 1958, as the Trustee
of The Wilhelm Reich Infant Trust—has shouldered the awesome
responsibility of administering the Estate of Dr. Reich according
to the wishes of his Last Will and Testament.

For years, many of us—who are friends and supporters of the
Museum and the Trust—have conferred among ourselves,
expressing interest in an occasion such as this…an occasion
where, in some small way, we might convey our gratitude to
Mary Higgins for all that she has done for nearly five decades
to honestly and pragmatically preserve the legacy of Dr. Reich
for future generations.

And whatever gratitude we articulate here this evening will be
small indeed when compared with the magnitude of Mary’s
accomplishments…when compared with the enormity of a task
undertaken in 1958 by a young woman, barely 33-years old.

Regrettably, history is replete with stories of great leaders
passing away and leaving an aftermath of confusion, uncertainty,
fear, and acrimony. Pioneers in industry, politics, religion,
social movements, and science…family patriarchs and matriarchs
whose legacies become weakened and vulnerable, whose final
wishes are compromised by those after them. And so it was when
Reich died in November 1957 in the Lewisburg Penitentiary at
the age of sixty.

It’s not our purpose here tonight to revisit the explicit difficulties
and conflicts following Reich’s death. After all, if things had gone
differently, if people had been guided by their better instincts,
perhaps that would’ve been the exception rather than the rule.
And perhaps that would’ve been too much to hope for.

But what does it say about both human frailty and human ambition
that no one among Reich’s associates and colleagues stepped
forward to assume the mantle of the Trusteeship and carry out
the specifics of his Last Will and Testament?

What does it say about the ephemeral nature of human bonds and
human relationships that no cohesive group assembled following
Reich’s death to categorically insure the fulfillment of his final
wishes?

And what does it say about the fragile quality of happenstance and
sheer luck that an individual who never met Reich nor worked
with him…who was not a physician, psychoanalyst, psychiatrist,
or scientist—merely a young woman for whom Reich’s work
resonated personally and deeply—that such a person would emerge
and offer to take on the burden of the Trusteeship for the simple
reason that no one else would.? And this young woman reasoned
that if no one else would, then Reich’s legacy might well be
sacrificed forever.

No one today should ever look back from the vantage of 2005
and dare to diminish or misrepresent the dire situation as it was
in 1957 and 1958:

Reich tragically persecuted...and then suddenly gone.

His books banned by order of a United States federal court.

Three tons of his books burned in New York City by court order.

Several boxes of his publications burned outside his laboratory
in Maine…much of his legacy literally consigned to ashes.

The chilling effect of a court Injunction essentially silencing
much of Reich’s work, including the continuation of his
promising medical research here in America.

In rural Rangeley, Maine, his 200-plus acre property of Orgonon
abandoned…overgrown and choked with weeds. We have black
and white photographs that document how bleak the situation was.
The Orgone Energy Observatory was boarded up, frequently
vandalized, all of its locks broken by unknown intruders. The entire
property and all of its buildings on the way to irreparable decay…
unattended and unprotected against the harsh New England elements.

And what of Reich’s Archives, which he had stored in a photographic
darkroom on the first-floor of the Observatory and in a large closet
in his second-floor study? When Mary first visited the Observatory,
she discovered the Archives were gone. Removed illegally by
Aurora Karrer—the last woman in Reich’s life—who had the
Archives loaded into a truck one day and transported hundreds
of miles away to the house that she shared with her mother in
Bethesda, Maryland.

What a sad and tragic irony, that Wilhelm Reich—truly one of
the most original thinkers of the 20th century, or any century—
should have his legacy and his wishes so disrespected...so
diminished...and so pitifully neglected.

And when his Last Will and Testament was finally probated
in 1958, and all specific personal bequests were fulfilled,
$823 was all that was left for Mary Higgins to carry out the
major precepts of the Will. Which Reich had enumerated
quite clearly. He wrote:

“I made the consideration of secure transmission to future
generations of a vast empire of scientific accomplishments
the guide in my last dispositions. To my mind, the foremost
task to be fulfilled was to safeguard the truth about my life
and work against distortion and slander after my death.”

A few paragraphs later, Reich stipulated that the Trust shall:
“... operate and maintain the property at Orgonon under the
name and style of The Wilhelm Reich Museum…The grounds
should be kept neat and clean, and repairs should not be neglected.”

And regarding his Archives, Reich directed: “that they should
be put away and stored for 50 years to secure their safety
from destruction and falsification by anyone interested in the
falsification and destruction of historical truth.”

$823 to do all of this.

Today, that would translate into approximately $5,675. And
whenever I look at those black and white photos of Orgonon
back in 1958, I think what a paltry figure that would be today:
less than $6,000 to transform Orgonon from the ruin that it was.
..to the beautiful and vibrant property and Museum that it is today.

But that’s exactly what Mary Higgins did.

Not to mention, recovering the stolen Archives, which Mary
also succeeded in doing. So that today they are safe and secure—
unchanged, unaltered, and well-preserved—and currently being
prepared for access to researchers and scholars for generations
to come.

And Reich’s banned and burned literature: starting in 1960,
Mary arranged with Farrar Straus & Giroux—which would
become one of the most reputable publishers in the world—
to publish Reich’s books…his old titles as well as some
new ones.

Today, 21 books are available...Reich’s work is represented
in over 21 languages throughout the world…and additional
materials are available exclusively in the Museum Bookstore.

The fact is, thanks to Mary, all of Reich’s books, bulletins,
and journals that were destroyed in the 1950s, are available
today in some format: hardcover, paperback, xerox, or microfilm.

But this isn’t a story that often gets told, is it? Over the years,
it’s a story that seems to have been lost and distorted. And for
decades, Mary refused to write or speak publicly about the
difficulties, challenges, achievements, and triumphs of her tenure
as Trustee and Museum Director...refused to consciously draw
any spotlight to herself out of both genuine modesty and—more
importantly—her commitment to maintaining the focus of the Trust
where it belonged: on the truth and the legacy of Wilhelm Reich.

In fact, it wasn’t until two years ago—in this very room and at
my urging—that Mary would even speak publicly about her
experiences over the past four decades. And you should also
know this: when I first broached the idea of this evening,
Mary was adamantly opposed to it as I knew she would be.
Only when I persisted, at the behest of numerous friends
and supporters, did Mary finally and reluctantly agree.

But I think it is fitting and proper that we assess the legacy
of Mary Higgins. And so from the vantage of 2005, we
should all pause and ask ourselves: “What if?” Like the
George Bailey character in the film It’s a Wonderful Life,
we should ask ourselves, “What if there had been no
Mary Higgins?” Or “What if Mary’s journey in life had
taken her elsewhere, so that she never encountered the work
of Wilhelm Reich?” What if?

What would’ve happened to Orgonon, Reich’s abandoned home
and research center? Well, I’ve been going to Rangeley since
I was a child, since the 1950s...and I have no doubt that Orgonon
would’ve been sold...eventually developed into private homes
...and forgotten.

And the Archives? From all I know of the situation, it’s highly
unlikely that these materials would’ve ever found the care,
protection, and organization that Mary provided. It is more
probable that these materials would’ve been distributed to
various locations and into various private hands...which has
happened with other Reich memorabilia.

As for the books: it’s likely some of the titles would have
been published anyway, as we know some were. But certainly
not 21 titles...probably not in 21 languages...and probably not
from a publisher with the reputation and distribution capacity
of Farrar Straus & Giroux.

I once asked Mary if, in hindsight, she had any regrets about
her decision to become the Trustee. Her response was immediate:
“No, I’ve never regretted it,” she told me.

And so for that decision—and for the joy that Mary has taken in it
—we should all be grateful.

Finally, on a personal note:

For the past few years, it has been a privilege and a pleasure
and an intellectual challenge to be working so closely with
Mary Higgins on all manner of issues regarding the Museum
and the Trust. I look forward to many more years of our
working together.

I am constantly inspired by Mary’s wisdom, her diligence,
her intellectual honesty and vitality...by her acuity of thought
and her precise vision.

Not to mention Mary’s physical vigor: I consider myself an
excellent hiker, but when Mary and I are walking some of the
more strenuous trails at Orgonon, it’s usually Mary setting
the pace and me keeping up with her.

But what I value most is the personal trust and friendship
of such a unique and remarkable woman.

Thank you, Mary, for everything. And Happy Birthday.


UNTIL NEXT MONTH

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Thank you again for your friendship and support.