Word: hannah
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...Paul Tillich's personal secretary during his Harvard years (1955-62), 1 was initially puzzled and somewhat dismayed to learn of the acutely personal revelations in Hannah Tillich's book about life with Paulus [Oct. 8]. But upon further reflection. I think her demythologizing will undoubtedly further public interest in a closer study of his writings, with the added insight that here was a philosopher-theologian whose wisdom sprang not from an antiseptic ivory tower but from the morass of personal anguish at being much too human...
Even after marrying Paulus in 1924, Hannah did not exactly become a paragon of virtue herself. She dallied with their male friends and an academic assistant, and even got Tillich's explicit permission for one liaison. Hannah also experimented with-and rejected-lesbianism and at times unsuccessfully tried to interest Paulus in a joint sexual arrangement with another couple...
...menage a quatre may have been too limiting for Paulus. From the beginning he had established his independence. On the evening of his wedding to Hannah he went off to revel with a bachelor friend, winding up the night -talking, he said-in a strange girl's room. Tillich acknowledged his "demons," but gave them rather free rein...
Eventually, the compulsive fires had to burn down. In their last years together, Hannah reports, "it was harvest time for Paulus and me. I felt compassion for Paulus, I could enjoy him again... (We) indulged in a new, secret marriage pact...
When Paul Tillich died at 79 after a heart attack, Hannah was with him, holding his hand...