a desert with no real active, eager fighting helpers around. There is some
basic hesitancy or reluctance to stand up clearly and faithfully for our
work and to defend it in public just as eagerly as the enemies of this work
are attacking it by defamation.
The latest news is that some psychoanalysts apparently ran to the
District Attorney to stop my work. They pulled out some law from the
books which said that whoever directs mental hygiene work must be
licensed to do so, or something similar. This is, of course, nonsense,
since I am the one who licenses doctors and educators to practice what
I found and teach. I would appreciate it highly if you would make it
widely known that the psychoanalysts and some psychiatrists who have
no answer to my work are cowardly enough to use defamation, distor
tion and denunciation.
There is no doubt about it, as we have found out lately through many
witnesses who have sworn to their written statements, that there is a
concerted effort to smash my work by denunciation. For instance, the
rumor was circulated about 2 weeks ago in many places that a woman
patient had been masturbated at the Orgone Institute and thereupon had
a breakdown. The woman, whose name was mentioned in this connec
tion, had never been here. We went after this story immediately with the
help of our lawyer and the man who spread the rumor took it back im
mediately. Well, that is what I call plague. The greatest riddle is what
blocks us ourselves from standing up for the truth and decency just as
vigorously and determinedly as Ivan the Horrible stands up for the lie
and defamation. This is the big headache.
When I shall have answered this question practically, then I shall
proceed to finish my orgone motor and to install a very large one in
your school. Only, watch out that the nationalized electric industry of
England does not come down on you as a cheater of "public interest."
Summerhill School
Leis/on, Suffolk
Dear Both,•••December 12 , 19 48Re Peter. Have you considered the sleep angle? Recently our
kids have been breaking all bedtime laws. A meeting was strict about
them, and for a week they have gone to bed early. Result: most of the
bad tempers, destructiveness etc. have lessened greatly. Zoe, if too late