It is with greatest sadness that the Chairs of ICASSI have to announce that Bill Linden passed away after a long illness on December 26th, 2019.

Bill Linden was the only established philosopher to teach courses at ICASSI. Initially, enrollments in his course were small, as many who attend ICASSI summer schools felt they did not have an adequate background in philosophy. Gradually enrollments grew, as people realized that Bill introduced many ‘real life’ examples and that he was very encouraging and humorous, so that his classes were fun as well as fine learning opportunities. Bill always felt he learned more from his students than they from him, but stories from students showed that they learned much of value from him. He introduced Adlerian-relevant ideas from Spinoza, the Stoics, Plato and Aristotle, and whoever he thought relevant to the topic of the class. He loved having co-instructors, like Zivit Abramson, and he thought of class learning as a vital life experience.

As a university professor he was widely sought by students at the university and he was named Outstanding Professor because of his excellent teaching. The qualities he displayed and the appreciation he received from his ‘day job’ were akin to the qualities and appreciation involved in his ICASSI classes.

His plenary lectures entailed humor, which he thoroughly enjoyed. The example of the ‘talking frog’ was enjoyed by all who heard his plenary presentation. He loved entertaining, and story telling was part of this. He was an expert story teller.

Because he had been recognized as a poet, having published poems in his early years, he told poems in his classes. Many at ICASSI and in other Adlerian organizations came to recognize that what they learned from Bill Linden was unique, unlike any other presenter. Gradually the preparation for classes and lectures became too taxing for him, and he chose to limit these activities.

Initially, he was very active in his service on the scholarship committee of ICASSI, taking copious notes on all aspects needed for selecting applicants who’d receive scholarships. Gradually, that work was too demanding, and after many years on the Scholarship Committee he chose to retire. He had given much energy and many years for helping and teaching others, and he gradually moved to a more quiet life. He still attended classes at ICASSI, however, not tiring of the lively exchanges possible with his classmates and with instructors. His last ICASSI attendance was in Bonn, Germany, in 2018, when he also brought with him two daughters and three granddaughters. He loved sharing ICASSI summer schools with his children and grandchildren.

Here are some memories from ICASSI faculty members:

By Andrea Hillenbrand (faculty member and head of the scholarship committee):

„Bill Linden served ICASSI not only as faculty for many years but also as a long term member and head of the scholarship committee. He had a keen interest in meeting young, aspiring people from all over the world and supporting them. His sincere way of listening to what they had to say, always taking notes, was encouragement in action. He helped generations of scholarship students to participate and make life changing experiences.“

By Zivit Abramson (faculty member and co-instructor with Bill Linden):

„Bill Linden

The first thing that comes to my mind in connection with Bill is modesty. There is so much vanity around, out and inside, that it does good to the heart to be around a really modest man. Dreikurs spoke of Social Equality and had a son in law who was in my eyes the impersonation of it. Every single person, regardless of age, position, gender or any other criteria was treated by Bill with the same respect, the same openness, the same warmth.

At first I only knew Bill through the Icassi faculty. Then, working on the subject of Adler and Philosophy I needed help, and there was none, because Adlerians did not know Philosophy and Philosophers did not know Adler. There was only this one person in the world who had deep knowledge of both Adler and Philosophy to whom I could turn. So I came to Icassi with a list of difficult questions and asked Bill to sit down with me and see if he could answer maybe some of them. I will never forget my amazement at the wisdom that I experienced. Bills answers were so brilliant, clear and yet, apparently simple that it opened my eyes to an understanding of the material and I remember thinking: What a clever man! Yet the so clever answers were given by him so humbly, as if it was nothing unusual, as if he was saying the obvious. I believe that was when our friendship began. After that I would bring my list of questions each year and get my answers.

Later, in conversations I, like all others, received the gift of his exciting, funny and interesting way of story telling. My opinion was he should put them in writing but again, because of his modesty, Bill did not believe his stories to be important enough to be published. I am still sorry about that. It is our loss.

The next incidence or occurrence I will never forget was when Eva and myself were in a faculty meeting – that was when Bill was not any more a faculty member – and so he was sitting outside of the room in which the meeting took place waiting for it to end, and so did my grandson. They sat together. My grandson was then 16 years old, not very sure of himself, did not have that much self-confidence. Meeting him after the talk he had had with Bill was exciting. It was obvious how proud he felt, how encouraged, telling me “we have made an appointment to meet again”. For Bill it was his usual way of treating people, be they 16 or 80 years old. For my grandson this became, until today, an uplifting experience. They kept in touch. Bill taught him how to be a Stoic, and sent him the necessary book to Tel Aviv. He influenced his life and his behavior. Yet Bill never had the aspiration to have such an influence on people’s lives. It just happened by the way he communicated.

Once, in Oberstaufen, Germany, Bill offered a course on “Coping with aging” which I took. We were quite a big group, and I do not think any one of us ever forgot it. The exercises were moving, but it was mainly Bill’s modest yet creative and exciting way of leading the group, as a democratic leader, as one of us, sharing stories, reading poems. Later in Slovakia we offered the same course together. Bill worked and prepared all year long, so that by the time we were ready he had for each meeting, for each topic that we touched, a suitable poem. At the end of the meeting he would stand up and recite one of those beautiful poems, by this giving the occasion festivity, touching the participants deeply.

Finally, I would like to mention his devotion to his wife Eva. Once, after her traditional lecture in the first morning of Icassi our ways crossed by the door and Bill, still excited, said: “Isn’t she wonderful?”, and I thought to myself that this after decades of a partnership, after having heard her so many times, is what we are looking for in a partnership, but it does not happen often. In a conversation on death he once said (meaning Eva): “I can’t leave her alone”, meaning, I cannot die on her. He did leave her alone; he could not help it.

I will miss him very much. At least we have the excellent articles that he left us (the last one is about to appear in the Journal of Individual Psychology {JIP} this year). Maybe Icassi could collect them and print them all in a booklet. This would keep the memory of a brilliant writer alive and be helpful for those who research Adler in terms of his Philosophy.“

By Yoav Shoham (faculty member):

„This week the philosopher Bill Linden passed away.

Bill was my friend for the past 20 years. He was also older than me by 20 years. Every summer we met for two weeks, every year in a different country, as part of the summer school organized by the International Committee of Adlerian Summer Schools and Institutes (ICASSI). Bill was part of the teaching staff which I also joined. He was an intelligent man, with an outstanding sense of humor, who enjoyed life, and loved people. All of this everyone knew. He was also very sensitive, and this characteristic was not familiar to everyone. We had the pleasure of hosting Bill and Eva at our home in Israel.

Several years ago I was fortunate that Bill joined the course that I gave “The Art of Encouragement”. As part of an exercise the group was asked to share a personal story, and so did Bill. I don’t remember the details of the story, but the emotions that the group felt, and the tears that fell on Bill’s face I can still see. I asked the group to encourage Bill:

There sat a man 85 years old, with a group of people whose average age was less than half of his, he heard their attempts to encourage him, in English in which some of the group used Google translate, wanted to help them learn the art of encouragement, with patience, with respect, with appreciation, and a heavy atmosphere. Suddenly he stood in the center of the room, motioned to a young woman from Japan who had difficulty finding the appropriate words, to come and hug him, and with a hand gesture asked for another to join the hug, and then another one, until a circle was formed of a cohesive group, and in the center a smiling face, maybe happy and with teary eyes. I could not find at that moment a better illustration or more exact example of the idea standing at the base of the course of the Art of Encouragement.

This lesson I will remember as long as I want to encourage people in teaching, in education, and in treatment.

Thank you dear friend, I will cherish your memory in my heart.“

Please also look at the website https://www.weberfuneralhome.com/obituaries/George-Linden/#!/TributeWall for Bill Linden‘s obituary at the funeral home. On this website you also have the possibility to share your personal memories if you wish to do so.