‘Be strong and let us be strong’: Erich Fromm and Lewis Mumford, the story of a friendship

Lewis Mumford and Erich Fromm are amongst the twentieth century’s fiercest social critics. While their respective oeuvres feature frequent citations and references to each other, their correspondence with provides insight into a friendship based not only on mutual interests but also on deep mutual affection. Mumford and Fromm shared rough drafts and ideas with one another, but they also encouraged each other to keep writing. And though each of them wrote at length about the importance of community, both struggled with feelings of isolation and expressed doubts about whether their work was having any impact. Drawing on original archival research, this article explores how Mumford and Fromm cultivated and sustained their community of two. Both worried that their warnings were not being heard – and yet, their friendship reveals, that they drew comfort from knowing they were at least hearing each other.