Dr. Stone was born in Boston, Massachusetts, received his M.D. (1955) from Yale School of Medicine, interned at the Grace New Haven Hospital (1955–56), took residency at McLean Hospital (1956–58), and spent a year in child psychiatry at the Putnam Children’s Center in Boston, Massachusetts (1958–59). He completed his psychoanalytic training at the Boston Institute and served as Director of Residency Training at the McLean Hospital (1962–68).
After two years in the Army Medical Corps, Dr. Stone returned to the Boston area and took part in a NIMH-grant research project in relation to blind retarded children. He had a special interest in severe psychopathological psychosis. He was Director of Residency Training at the McLean Hospital for six years.
Dr. Stone has been a spokesman for psychiatry in relation to legal issues. He was Chairman of the Committee on Law of the Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry and Chairman of the APA Commission on Judicial Action. He has published a number of books, beginning with Longitudinal Studies of Child Personality (1959), but more have dealt with issues of law, as have numerous articles.
Dr. Stone accompanied an American Psychiatric Association delegation to South Africa in 1979 to investigate apartheid abuses and in 1978 consulted with Polish authorities about commitment laws. He also visited Russia and later examined a Russian dissident, finding him sane.
Dr. Stone received the Manfred Guttmacher Award of the American Psychiatric Association for his book on mental health and law (1975). He also received the Guggenheim Fellowship to support his European travels in 1978.
Dr. Stone served as a trustee of the American Psychiatric Association, vice president for two years, and president (1979–80).