ABSTRACT
Thank you for embarking with me on this journey through the life and work of John Bowlby – a great man, mentor and friend. The world of mental health, social care and the wider health economy owes a great deal to the originality and clarity of his thinking; to his vision, perseverance, compassion and encouragement; to what many have described as his genius; to his humanity. But his life was not spent wading through a grey porridge of political posturing. Indeed, outside the consulting room he was a sparkling and witty character. John Bowlby’s human side became clearer to María and to me from a travel
log that he had posted to his wife Ursula about his first adventure through Spanish-speaking Latin America: the last of his many long expeditions. Ursula had to stay at home just before departure…. She wrote to us, within a few months of his death. It happened to be the only undated letter of the thirty or so that she sent to us: a metaphor for an encounter with John – a truly timeless experience.
