New "Psychology of Romantic Love" coming

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

The Psychology of Romantic Love

Great news!

I received the following email from Nathaniel.

I have just made an agreement with Tarcher/Penquin Publishers to bring out a revised and expanded edition of "The Psychology of Romantic Love," a job that will take me about 6 months to complete.

I really look forward to this.

Michael

[James Heaps-Nelson]

Michael,

That is indeed fantastic news! Nathaniel has a lot of valuable insight to contribute to this and by all accounts two fantastic and long-lasting marriages to Patrecia and Devers, though he is now amicably separated from Devers.

He is taking exactly the right approach to the PARC contoversy. Focus on productive projects. As he is in his 70's. he probably does not have time to waste on it.

Jim

[Roger Bissell]

I couldn't agree more with James' comments about the best use of time for Nathaniel. Even I in my 50s should know better than to allow my focus to be drawn into the unproductive, nasty controversy over PARC. I have so much to do, and so little time...

BTW, I don't think I'm breaking any confidences by pointing out that Nathaniel is amicably divorced from Devers, and that he is planning to remarry probably in May to a young lady named Leigh.

Also, while his marriage to Patrecia was, by all accounts, a really good one, it was actually and unfortunately not a very long one, lasting less than 10 years, certainly less than his marriage to Barbara.

Also, btw, Nathaniel and Barbara, both of whom attended an LAON meeting in January, were still very much the intellectual comrades in discussing the early years of the Objectivist movement and their relationships with Ayn Rand.

It is incredible to me, the people who diss Barbara ("what has she done of any significance?"), when it is obvious that there would not even have been an Objectivist movement in the 60s, if it weren't for all the incredible amount of work she did in organizing the various lecture series, both in NYC and around the world.

Also, the dissers conveniently ignore Barbara's Principles of Efficient Thinking lecture course. Some of them might still benefit from listening to it! Of course, efficient thinking presupposes sincere perception, which some of them apparently have switched off for the time being!

REB

[James Heaps-Nelson]

Roger,

When I was working for Intel the first time, I learned a technique called disagree and commit. It is possible to disagree with people, even on moral issues and still cooperate profitably with them in areas of mutual interest.

This is what is lacking in the Objectivist world is a way of getting at the truth of things without severing connections and holding lifelong grudges. We've got to get to a point where we can work with people even when they disagree with us on important moral and philosophical issues.

I cannot believe, for instance, that there aren't many Objectivists who wouldn't benefit greatly from Nathaniel's work in psychology who also don't approve of many of the things he has done in the past and disagree with his views on Ayn Rand as a person. The same regarding Barbara's lectures on efficient thinking.

I'm hoping that people hash this thing out, come to their conclusions and get on with life. Sooner rather than later. I'm not a can't we all just get along type of person, but we have to get away from this circular firing squad stuff.

Objectivists often remind me of the old spat between steel tycoons Andrew Carnegie and Henry Clay Frick. They had a falling out and after 20 years Carnegie tried to patch things up or at least come to a mutual understanding. Frick's response was: I'll see you in hell. We can't do that in Objectivism and expect it to grow and prosper.

Jim

[Fran]

I didn't know Branden was planning on remarrying. Is that Leigh Horton he's marrying? - she was at the 2005 TOC conference and she seemed really lovely. Congratulations to them both.

[Barbara Branden]

Fran, yes, it is Leigh Horton whom Nathaniel will be marrying, in May of this year -- and she is indeed a lovely person.