Thank you so much for devoting space to Ms. Senior’s portrait of the unhappiness and suicide of Phil Brickman. It may save some lives.
Phil Brickman was the closest I had to an adult mentor in college. In the unenviable role of my adviser in psychology, he was all the article captured brilliant, funny, insightful, demanding and tender.
Our nonacademic conversations imparted wisdom about family, love and career. Some of his observations and axioms stay with me over four decades later, often passed on to friends and clients. Our discussions on the importance of commitment to that greater than oneself were a keystone to my entire professional and public life. How I wish I could tell him that.