Owego native James E. Strick’s new book, “Wilhelm Reich, Biologist” is scheduled for release in March 2015 and showcases Reich’s cutting edge scientific contributions. On the book cover is scientist Wilhelm Reich, left, and a colleague, French Professor Roger du Teil. Reich, a native of Austria, was a gifted student of Sigmund Freud. The book will be available for purchase on the Harvard University Press website, www.hup.harvard.edu.
A few days after the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, an Austrian immigrant living in the New York City area, scientist and author Wilhelm Reich, was arrested and held for three weeks at Ellis Island. Identified as being involved in communist activities, the FBI eventually cleared the suspicions and released him. Several years later, literally tons of books, journals and other materials written by this pioneer scientist, a gifted student of Sigmund Freud, were burned by Federal government agents, an act of censorship still questioned today. The books have since been reprinted by a different publisher.
A new book due to be released in March 2015, “Wilhelm Reich, Biologist,” written by former Owego resident James E. Strick, may not make Reich a household name like Sigmund Freud. However, it is hoped that the book, published by world-wide respected Harvard University Press, will help clarify misunderstandings that still exist today, as well as showcase Reich’s innovative work.
James E. Strick, a 1974 graduate of Union-Endicott High School, moved with his family to Owego in 1967 and attended Owego schools through tenth grade. Forty years later, personal ties remain in the area, and Strick considers Owego a significant part of his growing-up years. His grandparents, Leroy and Genevieve Brown, owned Brown’s Berry Ranch in Owego (Gibson Corners), considered a community staple in the 1960’s.
Now living in Maryland, Strick is a Professor in the department of Earth and Environment and Chair of the Program in Science, Technology and Society at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pa. Dr. Strick has a Doctor of Philosophy and Master of Arts in History from Princeton University, as well as two other degrees from SUNY colleges. With extensive teaching experience, fellowships, honors, professional affiliations, certifications and publications, including his first book, “Sparks of Life: Darwinism and the Victorian Debates over Spontaneous Generation,” Strick looks forward to the potential of his new book, and believes it will appeal to many readers.
ames E. Strick, an Owego native, is the author of a new book, “Wilhelm Reich, Biologist,” scheduled for release in March 2015. Strick, who now lives in Maryland, is a Professor at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pa.
Wilhelm Reich, a psychologist and psychoanalyst, came to the United States in 1939 on a professional work visa. Escaping Germany in 1933 just prior to his books being burned by the Nazi’s, he lived in Oslo, Norway before immigrating to the U.S. Once stateside, he faced intense scrutiny and received minimal credit for his biology and laboratory science work, although he was positively viewed as a therapist. Strick comments in the introduction of his book, “Having pioneered techniques such as character analysis and muscular armoring, Reich is highly regarded among therapeutic and self-help circles as the father of body therapies where he was decades before his time.”
Following a damaging 1947 magazine article about Reich’s work with “orgone energy,” Reich’s accomplishments were labeled as “pseudoscience,” and led to years of investigations by four U.S. government agencies. Reich was imprisoned for violating a Federal Court injunction surrounding the ban and distribution of his orgone invention and books, and spent the remainder of his life jailed until his death in 1957. Still today, false and misleading information about Reich’s life and work remains, including internet sources. Archives of Reich’s work, held for fifty years, were made available in 2007, of which Strick had the opportunity to review and examine. In his new book, Strick presents Reich’s lab experiments and other significant work as cutting edge, and deserving of new attention as legitimate scientific contributions.
Pictured is an aerial view of Brown’s Berry Ranch, used on a Christmas card. The ranch, owned by Owego native and author, James E. Strick’s grandparents, Leroy and Genevieve Brown, was located in the Gibson Corners area and considered a community staple in the 1960’s.
Additional information about Reich can be found on the web site, www.wilhelmreichtrust.org. To purchase James E. Strick’s book when it becomes available, search the Harvard University Press web site, www.hup.harvard.edu.
