RAYMOND RASKIN

RASKIN--Dr. Raymond.

Dr. Raymond Adrian Raskin died at age 95 in New York City on April 8, 2017. A man of exceptional intellect, humor, and warmth, he had profound concern for others. He will be deeply missed and mourned. A psychiatrist and psychoanalyst in private practice in NYC who was devoted to his patients, he was admired by colleagues for his clinical excellence. A training and supervising analyst at the Columbia University Psychoanalytic Center, where he received his psychoanalytic training, Ray was also an attending psychiatrist at the Harlem Hospital Center where he taught and supervised candidates for almost forty years. Ray was particularly proud of his time when, as a young man, he served as a Lieutenant in the U.S. Naval Reserve; he traveled around the world on an oil tanker, serving as M.D. for eight destroyers. He often delighted in saying that he had thrown up in each of the world's oceans. Deeply committed to social justice, he spent many years as Chair of the Social Issues Committee of the American Psychoanalytic Association as an activist. He urged the Association to take a stand on controversial issues and championed the causes of women, minorities and homosexuals. Ray was also an artist. Enamored of the Southwest, particularly Santa Fe, where he and his family had a second home, he was inspired to create exquisite turquoise and silver jewelry; he also created small statues in gold and large ones in steel. Encouraged by galleries to give up psychiatry and become a full-time artist, he proclaimed that his dedication to his patients was paramount. His first wife and love, Judith Raskin, a renowned lyric soprano at the Metropolitan Opera, died young. His second wife, Arlene Saunders, also a celebrated opera singer survives him. Ray loved music and, as a former member of a barbershop quartet, he loved to sing. In addition to his wife, he is survived by his son, Dr. Jonathan M. Raskin, his daughter, Prof. Lisa A. Raskin, his daughter-in-law, Dr. Joanne Tejera, his son-in-law, Prof. David Sofield, his adored grandson and granddaughter Joshua and Julia Raskin, and his niece Michele Mahoney. We are greatly saddened by his passing, but know we are far better people for having experienced his love, wisdom, and generosity.