distant man, had difficulties tolerating the expansion and excitement connected with orgon-
omy and with Reich. He made a valiant effort for many years because the emotional and
intellectual depth of the work meant so much to him. But it was at considerable cost; for
example, Wolfe experienced a psychotic episode during his treatment with Reich in Oslo in
the late 1930s^6.
To all these factors Reich added another hypothesis: Wolfe’s orgonomic zeal was
being undermined by his wife, Gladys Meyer. Reich’s relationship with Meyer and his con-
cern about her influence on Wolfe were of sufficient importance that I must backtrack a few
years to give a fuller picture here.
Not long after his relationship with Jo Jenks ended, Theo met Gladys Meyer, on
New Year’s Eve, 1943. Gladys was thirty-four at the time, Wolfe forty-one. They quickly
became involved with each other, but Reich was not interested in meeting her until the rela-
tionship was a serious one. He did not want to see Theo’s casual women friends.
A few years later Gladys Meyer became a member of the sociology department at
Barnard College (where she would remain a beloved teacher until she retired in 1976). A tall,
empathic, and immensely thoughtful (in both senses of the word) person, Meyer could also
be bitingly critical and had a slight air ofhauteur. During the summer of 1944, she spent time
at Theo’s cabin on Mooselookmeguntic Lake; by that point their relationship was serious.
Meyer’s first sight of Reich was in front of the Rangeley Post Office. Reich was in his car
with Ilse and their infant son Peter. Ilse and Reich were quarreling slightly as to whether
there was too much sun on the baby. They seemed a very European family to Meyer.
In other ways, too, Reich, as she got to know him, was quite European in Meyer’s
eyes. At times he reminded her of a “great vigorous Austrian peasant.” In his domineering
moods, he evoked memories of professors from the Frankfurt school in Germany where
she had studied in the early 1930s.
During those summers of the 19405, Reich and Wolfe consulted with each other
often. More occasionally, the Wolfes and the Reichs would visit socially, although no meet-
ing with Reich was “social”in the usual sense.Meyer recalls sitting on the porch with Reich
and discussing the youth movement he had known in Germany and Austria. Reich had won-
dered if there would ever be a similar kind of movement in America. Meyer had not thought
there would be,but she was impressed by his searching questions.
In 1945, Meyer went into treatment with Reich, partly at Wolfe’s urging since he felt
that ifshe experienced therapy, she would better understand why he was so absorbed in
orgonomy. She found therapy “only rewarding.” Reich was a disciplined therapist, though at
times he could provoke her very directly. In one session she had remembered her childhood
distress when a boy threatened to attack her with a knife. Reich took some deer antlers he
had in his office and moved toward her, simulating the original incident to elicit her emo-
tions. Meyer jumped off the couch.
The therapy only lasted a few months. As with so many people, Gladys Meyer’s
time in treatment coincided with her most intense interest in orgonomy. She contributed
several excellent book reviews to the International Journal for Sex-Economy and Orgone-Research.
27 : Personal Life and Other Developments: 1950-1954 359