its founding, Reich struck a chord almost in anticipation of later difficulties:
We rely on knowledgeand not on form; on learningand not on empty law;
on facts and not on titles; on the deep-rooted knowledge about the laws of life
which are in man, and not on the politician; on loveand not on the marriage license;
on work well done and not on opinions about workdone by others...^25.It was not long before controversies erupted between Reich and Willie. A major
issue centered on rules and regulations. Willie and some of the other physicians wanted
highly formal requirements for admission to AAMO: medical school plus internship plus a
few years of psychiatric training. Wolfe remarked that with these requirements he himself
would not be acceptable since he went directly from medical school into psychiatric train-
ing, skipping an internship. Reich had argued strongly that the chief requirement should be
a medical degree or its equivalent; in the end, his opinion prevailed. Despite his clear com-
mitment to medical training as an essential prerequisite for the practice of psychiatric
orgone therapy, Reich always wanted to leave the door open for persons with “special
gifts”—the phrase is Willie’s—to be able to practice orgone therapy without medical train-
ing.Raknes fell into this category, and Reich maintained this option even though he had had
some bad experiences with nonmedical people already.
Willie served as president for one year and was scheduled to serve a second when
Reich intervened. According to Willie, “Reich felt that I was trying to take the doctors away
from him.” I asked Willie if this was true. Willie smiled and said, “Competitiveness is woven
into the very warp and woof of my personality.” In any case, Willie was removed as presi-
dent and Baker replaced him, in accordance with Reich’s wishes.
A welcome respite from external and internal crises was provided by visits from
European colleagues during the postwar period. In September 1946, Ola Raknes came for a
four-month visit,the first European co-worker to meet Reich again after the war. He spent
September working with Reich in the laboratory at Orgonon. At the end of the month, he
and Reich returned to New York, and he continued his studies in Forest Hills.
Raknes was the kind ofstudent Reich liked. Many of Reich’s former Scandinavian
associates came to the conclusion that he had gone astray in America, basing their judgment
on a cursory perusal ofhis U.S. publications. Raknes took the trouble to devote several
months to careful study of the new orgonomic phenomena directly under Reich’s and Ilse’s
supervision. Reich greatly appreciated Raknes’ seriousness, independence of mind, and
receptivity to new ideas, combined with his determination to test them for himself. Raknes
differed with Reich on many matters, but this did not spoil their good friendship. Indeed,
the differences enhanced the relationship, since they shared a devotion to the central con-
cepts of orgonomy.
I have already mentioned the importance of Reich’s correspondence with A. S.
Neill. The first opportunity they had to meet after World War II occurred in the summer of
24 : Personal Life and Relations with Colleagues: 1941-1950 325