Dear members,
I hope this finds all of you well. When you read these words, we will be approximately 8 weeks away from our annual conference. I hope you’ve had a chance to review the rich and varied program online, including the numerous pre-conference and conference presentations In this issue, you will also learn about some of the other offerings in the report from the conference co-chairs. If any of you are registered or still considering the possibility of attending this year’s conference and have any questions about visiting Israel, please don’t hesitate to contact me directly. Our Israeli conference co-chairs and other members of the Israeli chapter as well as some of our members from other countries who have visited Israel before, are available to answer any questions you might have. I would be glad to speak with you directly or put you in touch with others who have offered to be available for that as well.
As you all know by now, our community has suffered a terrible loss since the last time I wrote to you in the IARPP Bulletin. In this issue, we will hear remembrances from IARPP members who knew our beloved first president, Lewis Aron. Like many of you, I had the privilege of knowing Lew for many years as his student, mentee, colleague and dear friend. I was fortunate to know him well in all of these many ways, via our various, overlapping roles in each other’s lives. I hope it’s not too redundant to say what has already been noted many times since his passing on February 28th—just under 2 months ago as of this writing. There is no one like Lew. I am paraphrasing wildly here but I’ve heard it said that when a great person dies, it can take a number of people to fill their shoes.
Fortunately, our Relational organization, community, and larger psychoanalytic world have brilliant, vibrant, and generous, generative contributors and teachers. But I know of no one who encompasses that particular, unique balance of wisdom, Talmudic levels of knowledge, scholarly brilliance, passion for teaching and warmth that Lew did. He has left a hole in my heart and the hearts of many of us. He has left a void in our field. My deepest sympathies to all of you who are grieving his loss, though of course especially to his late partner, my very dear friend and colleague Galit Atlas; his children, Benjamin, Kirya and Raphi; and Galit’s children, Emma, Yali and Mia.
Although it was becoming increasingly clear to Lew in the last 6 months or so that he would not live to see our annual conference, he had very much hoped to be there. I hope that many of you will be able to join us for the memorial in Lew’s honor that will be held at the conference on Friday afternoon, June 21st from 12:15-1:15.
Warm regards,
Steven Kuchuck (USA)
Steven Kuchuck, DSW (USA)
Email Steven Kuchuck