Malcolm Pines (1925–2021). On making oneself available

Abstract

At the time I was the chair of the Scientific Committee of the Society, it fell to me to thank people for their contributions to scientific events. In search of appropriate words to express this in proper English, I copied the letters drafted by my predecessor, Earl Hopper who always thanked people for‚ making themselves 'available' for the event. This phrase must have got stuck in my mind and resurfaced when I was struggling to provide an obituary for Malcom Pines. Wondering how to characterize Malcolm as a person and his work, I felt it fitting to say that throughout his life he made himself 'fully available' to the group analytic work of Foulkes, to group analysis as a discipline in its own right, and to the group analytic community like no one else had done except Foulkes himself. Due this commitment, Malcolm represented Foulkes' often quoted claim that the group analyst is 'the first servant of group' (Foulkes, 1948(Foulkes, [1983: 139); a principle he embodied 'to the bone'-personally, as a clinician and as an intellectual. II.Without Malcolm's editorial efforts, we would neither have access to Foulkes' written work(s) nor would we have a group analytic journal of an international reputation and standing. This alone is a formidable achievement for one person to accomplish. However, as Harold Behr rightfully pointed out for both projects, Malcolm as a talent scout was able to enlist 'a multitude of different collaborators' (Behr, 2022) helping him 'to develop Foulkes' ideas in a multitude of different directions' (ibid.). However, I do not agree with Harold when he says 1075699G AQ0010.