24 : Personal Life and Relations with Colleagues: 1941-1950Once established in America, Reich entered a period of quiet work and living dom-
inated by scientific research. He was able to find and purchase his own home in late 1941,
for Ilse and he had had trouble with the house they rented in Forest Hills. To quote Ilse:
They [the neighbors] objected to our letting the hedge around the house
grow high; they objected to our having a Negro assistant, a young biology student
who studied for a while with Reich and, of course, shared our meals; they object-
ed to the “rats” in our basement and they transmitted these complaints to our land-
lord. He sent an investigator who could find no reason for the complaints and was
very much surprised to find our mice confined to securely closed boxes neatly
arranged on shelves However, we felt our privacy invaded by our particular neigh-
bor who continued to observe our every move, and we did not want to live at the
mercy of a landlord’s whim^1.In the fall of 1941, Reich bought a home at 99-06 69th Avenue, a block from the
Forest Hills Tennis Stadium. Here he was to spend eight to ten months a year, the summer
period in Maine being expanded as the years progressed. The basic pattern of his life was
established, not to be altered until his full-time move to Rangeley in 1950.
Ilse provides a picture of how thoroughly their home life was dominated by work:
“The large basement with a separate laundry room was ideal for laboratory purposes and
had a separate entrance. The rooms in the house were larger than in the old one. Reich could
have his library in his study, out of the way of the laboratory and the various household
activities.As before, the dining room was used for electroscopy, and later on for X-ray work.
The living room became a combination waiting room, office, and dining room.”^2
The Forest Hills home was the center of Reich’s therapeutic and organizational
activities from 1942 until 1950, just as the Maine home was the center for his scientific
research.However, considerable research also went on at Forest Hills. Here Reich was con-
stantly bothered by having to switch from writing and research to seeing patients. It was not
until he moved to Maine year round that this particular problem was resolved.
The period in his life between 1942 and 1945 was outwardly quiet. Many persons
came for therapy, including a number of teachers and social workers. But he had few col-
leagues,Wolfe continuing to be his chief co-worker. His relationship with Ilse centered
heavily upon work.