This biography of Hilde Bruch is a colorful, personal account of a
legendary figure in modern psychiatry. Although she is best known as a
pioneer in the field of eating disorders and is considered a major
contributor to the conceptualization of anorexia nervosa, those
accomplishments came in her "golden years" after an already prodigious
career. Bruch authored more than 250 articles and six books, including
The Golden Cage, a bestseller that introduced anorexia nervosa into
popular culture. In the 60's, when thinness became a national obsession,
she became widely-known and quoted, and she remained the world's
foremost authority on eating disorders well into her eighties. Hilde's
story begins in a turn-of-the-century German hamlet, where she stood out
as an exceptionally intelligent and intuitive child, who watched
skeptically as Kaiser Wilhelm's troops grandly marched off to World War
I. Later, as a young Jewish physician, she experienced and fled the
prejudice of the Third Reich to England and eventually New York,
escaping the terrible fate of numerous family members who died in Nazi
concentration camps. She spent her own childbearing years as a
pediatrician advising mothers while loving their children, through it
all remaining ironically outside the biological experience of
motherhood. Blessed with a flawless memory, unshakable confidence, and
unflagging mental energy, Hilde was ruthlessly organized, mercilessly
prepared, and intimidatingly productive. Hilde spent her final twenty
years as the 'Grande Dame' of Baylor University Medical School in
Houston and traveling the world lecturing about eating disorders and
teaching today's experts. Despite the debilitating advances of
Parkinson's Disease, Hilde continued writing and speaking until her
death in 1984, after which she was eulogized in the Journal of the
American Medical Association for her contributions as an author,
pediatrician, and psychiatrist.
