Berkeley university professor adjusts (using alcohol) to tragic fire deaths of wife & son.

Philip Ainley is a happily-married English teacher at a major USA university, whose life is turned upside down when his wife and child are killed by an explosion and fire in their home. Ainley's associate teacher, Tom Lawry, and the secretary of the department, Katherine Mead, a widow, do what tan to comfort him after the tragedy. As time goes by, Lawry thinks that nothing further can be done and becomes jealous of Katherine's continued efforts to help Ainley. Ainley, following an outward calm during the funeral and following days, tries to escape his sad anxiety through alcohol, and then via a suicide attempt.—Les Adams <[email protected]>

Phillip Ainley's idyllic life as a university Associate Professor in English Literature in a college town, and being loving husband to Anne Ainley and father to adolescent Timmy Ainley is upended when a furnace explosion at his house kills both Anne and Timmy. Many people in Phillip's life are there to support him, most notably his two best friends who happen to be dating each other: his faithful secretary Katherine Mead, and fellow professor Tom Lawry. Katherine in particular understands grief in Dan Mead, her husband of three months, having been killed in the war, and can see in Phillip the many stages of grief that she herself went through. Katherine and Tom, however, have differing views on how best to help Tom get through his pain. The one thing that everyone can see is that Phillip is drowning his sorrows in alcohol. In his pain, Phillip conversely does not see that his actions in that grief have a direct effect on others in his life. Only Katherine can sense that his latest change in the way he views things may be Phillip's way of saying goodbye to the world.—Huggo