The PANY Bulletin

Psychoanalytic Association of New York
Volume 39, Number 1 Spring 2001

In Memory of Max Soll
Excerpted from the Dallas Morning News
article by Louise Applebome

"One of Dallas' pioneers in psychoanalysis had his life and work cut short Saturday [November 11, 2000]. Dr. Maxwell Herman Soll, 64, died at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas from injuries suffered in an auto accident. The accident occurred while he was en route to the family's home at Cedar Creek Lake, daughter Nancy Shosid said. Dr. Soll served as the founding president of the Dallas Psychoanalytic Institute from 1984 to 1988. He was a member of the American Psychoanalytic Association and was certified in adult, adolescent and child psychiatry.
"Dr. Soll was also a clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas and is credited with training and supervising many psychoanalysts and psychotherapists in Dallas.

"'It's a major loss for us,' said Dr. Gerald Melchiode, another past president of the Dallas Psychoanalytic Institute and the current chairmanof the Dallas Foundation for Psychoanalysis. 'Max was a guy who was highly respected for his integrity and his practical and reasonable psychoanalytic approach,' Dr. Melchiode said. 'He was very committed to what he was doing."

"Dr. Thomas Sonn, a friend and colleague for 22 years, said Dr. Soll had a special way with his patients and students. 'He was very sought-after,' said Dr. Sonn, a training and supervising analyst at the Dallas Psychoanalytic Institute. He also said his friend's flexible and humane manner made it easy for patients to open up to him. 'He was not austere or rigid,' he said. 'He's missed already. He's irreplaceable.'
"Dr. Soll was born in New York City on June 22, 1936. He earned a bachelor's degree from Columbia University in 1958 and graduated from the State University of New York-Downstate Medical Center in 1962. In 1960, he married Susan Cohn. They moved to Dallas in 1978.
"'He was a wonderful father and grandfather,' said Dr. Shosid, 37, who also became a child psychiatrist. 'My father was a wonderful teacher. He was very levelheaded, very smart, but never arrogant. He never made students feel uncomfortable or stupid,' she said.
"Dr. Sonn said, 'The problem with loving someone like Max is missing him so much when he's gone.'

"In addition to Dr. Shosid of Dallas, Dr. Soll is survived by his wife, Susan, of Dallas; another daughter, Lisa Soll of San Rafael, Calif.; a son, David Soll of Boston; and four grandchildren.