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A Tribute to Barbara Kinoy, Ph.D.
Barbara Kinoy, Ph.D. died on Sunday March 11 at Brattleboro Memorial
Hospital in Brattleboro, Vermont, where she had been under treatment for
pneumonia. She had suffered a stroke several years before, and had been in
fragile health. Barbara was born in Athens, Vermont where her family tree
went back to before the American Revolution.
She attended a one room schoolhouse for elementary grades. After graduation
from the University of Vermont, she earned her M.S.W. from Columbia School
of Social Work, then known as the New York School of Social Work.
Barbara later received a doctorate in psychotherapy from Union graduate
School. In mid-career, Barbara was a psychiatric social worker and later
executive Director of the Riverdale Mental Health Association. When the
specialty of eating disorders was little known, Barbara developed an
expertise and became a professional consultant to AABA, the American
Anorexia Bulimia Association, one of the early advocacy and self-help
organizations in the field. She co-authored a book, “When Will We Laugh
Again: Living and Dealing with Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia” drawing on her
experiences in AABA.
Barbara and I met as classmates at WCSPP. From the beginning, I admired her
attentiveness, exquisite sensitivity and creativity. She was elegant and
compelling in her presence, yet also understated. Her accounts of patients
suffering from eating disorders stimulated my interest and following our
graduation from the Center in 1981, four members of our class began to meet
as a study group with Barbara informally mentoring us. A year later,
Barbara joined the Wilkins Center for Eating Disorders as a charter
therapist and I joined soon after. Barbara served a key role at the Center
as Director for Professional Development. She edited a second book, “Eating
Disorders: New Directions in Treatment and Recovery,” a collection of papers
by Wilkins Center staff members, many of whom were WCSPP graduates. The
book was published by the Columbia University Press in 1994 after Barbara
had closed her New York and Connecticut practices and moved to Vermont. She
opened a practice in Brattleboro Vermont providing psychotherapy and
supervision. Her home in Williamsville, lovingly renovated, became a magnet
for family and friends. She also pursued her love of music and actively
supported the Brattleboro Music Center. Staying true to her social work
roots, Barbara became a leader in the community, particularly in the Women’s
Shelter, Brattleboro Music Center, and as representative in the Windham
County Council on Aging. She was also elected a Justice of the Peace.
Barbara wrote poetry from the time she was a child. Her later poetry was
compiled into a collection which she sent to friends. Barbara’s poetic
sensibility infused her being, her voice, her spoken words and her writings.
She is survived by her husband of over 50 years, Ernest, a noted television,
screen and theatrical writer, her son, Daniel, her daughter, Judith, four
grandchildren and three great-grandchildren, and her sister Ann Leskowitz.
Inge Ortmeyer
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