To the Editor:

As one who knew the Oppenheimer family when I was young and living in Princeton, it turns out that I am one of many people for whom the recent Christopher Nolan film has stirred up a host of memories [“’Oppenheimer’ Film Sparks Remembrance of His Secretary, Verna Hobson,” August 23, page 7].

For some years, I lived on Mercer Street, a few doors down from where Einstein lived, and not at all far from Olden Manor. When I was very young, I got to know Robert Oppenheimer’s daughter Toni, a lovely, brilliant girl, with the most entertainingly lively imagination. My mother was a very close friend of Kitty Oppenheimer, and we were at their home many times. Even when I was quite young, it was immediately apparent to me that these people were amazingly unusual.

Robert expressed himself with no wasted words, and so articulately that it seemed as if a masterful author had carefully penned all of his utterances before he spoke. He had a graceful, cosmopolitan air about him, and if he was asked a question, his reply always seemed like the very thoughtful answer one might expect from a very gifted professor. Both he and Kitty were, for the most part, very gracious hosts. Her continental cooking was unforgettable. I knew them for quite a few of my younger years, from a time when I was too young to understand the global significance of Oppenheimer’s legendary scientific contributions.

Later, I witnessed the sad effect of the McCarthyites attack on his reputation and his career. My mother and many of her friends discussed, at length, all the stresses of that ordeal. Some of them had witnessed a hostile confrontation between Oppenheimer and Strauss, at a party. In the fewest words imaginable, never raising his voice, Oppie put Strauss very much in his place when the man had been throwing his weight around in such a way as to irritate a number of people at the event.

I really loved that family, and their Caribbean housekeeper, and all the lovely hours we spent with them. As time wore on, I was not unaware of Mrs. Oppenheimer’s problems with alcohol, but most of what I remember about her was her kindness to me, and all her animated expressions of interest in my youthful pursuits of that time.

Living now in Southwestern Pa., I have occasionally returned to Princeton. It has changed incredibly since I lived there. In the 50s and 60s, it was a wonderful place to grow up in.

David A. Greene
Carpenter Lane, North Huntingdon, Pa.