Daryl Sharp – thank you…

Every month I make time to write a thank you to someone (at least one!) It’s an opportunity to sit for a few minutes and think about where I want to express gratitude. Sometimes it’s someone in my life now, and sometimes it’s someone who helped me in my past. 

Last night I read an obituary to Daryl Sharp (January 2, 1936 – October 8, 2019). I have only just now caught up with the fact that he has passed away. I wrote to Daryl a few years ago now when I was embarking on my PhD thesis and wanted Jung’s work to be at the heart of it. I was looking around for sources and inspiration to guide me. I wanted to draw on the work of the Archetypal Psychologists. Also, I had come across some of the books he published through Inner City Books, including some of his own! They were wonderfully readable, full of beautiful narrative, insight and mischief. This was someone who understood Jung and had an irreverent respect for the work. He also had a good grasp of his Shadow, and had clearly worked on that. 

He had trained as a journalist as well as an analysand. His diverse skills clearly found a place in the development of his publishing house, somewhere unique that enabled him to give so much richness to the world. 

I wrote an email to him asking for advice. That email and its response are lost to an old, no longer used, and now deleted email address. I know one of the things I did ask him was about Jungian analysis. He was kind enough to explain that it is a huge commitment, and certainly the first step towards becoming an analyst myself. He pointed me in the direction of some useful contacts in the UK. His was a kind and congenial response. It spurred me on. 

I’ve read many of the titles that he published over the years. His publishing house was (and still is) a remarkable venture, publishing deep and weighty works as well as accessible ones. It’s a great place to start with Jung’s theories and applications. 

So, here I am some months after his passing, feeling that I never really got the opportunity to thank Daryl Sharp for his influence on me, the wonderful writings he created himself and the work of others which he gave a platform to. 

I can still thank him now – say how much I appreciate his influence on me. And there is the opportunity in the days ahead to delve back into the archives of Laura London’s wonderful “Speaking of Jung” podcast to listen again to the two interviews she recorded with Daryl Sharp right back in the first and fifth episodes. To remind of the wonder.