Paul C. Field – 50th Reunion Essay

Paul C. Field

Highlands, North Carolina

p.field@earthlink.net

678-296-4375

Spouse(s): Candyce Barbara Nadon (1977) (“Love lifts us up where we belong.”)

Education: Duke University, M.Div, 1972; UC Berkeley, MBA, 1982

Career: My career has been in financial services marketing. Seven years with California Casualty Insurance Company, two years at Wells Fargo Bank, nine years in consulting and twenty years at SunTrust Bank.

Avocations: While in Atlanta, I enjoyed being active in the Yale Club of Georgia. Served on the Board of Directors for many years and did my turn as president. I also enjoyed volunteering for the Alumni Schools Committee, interviewing applicants. Since retiring to Highlands, my golf has improved and we have taken up croquet, which has become extremely popular in this area.

College: Saybrook

Two inches of light, fluffy snow are falling outside. It is serene and peaceful here in Highlands, North Carolina. Candy and I live here now, after 25 years in Atlanta. Highlands is a destination resort nestled in the mountains about two and a half hours north of Atlanta. Destination means you have to make an effort to get here. That requires intention and tends to keep the day-trippers away.

During the winter Highlands has 6,000 residents. In the summer, when it’s cool at night and temperate during the day, the number swells to 30,000 plus. Candy and I love the mountains, and now that we’re retired, this is the spot for us.

Before Atlanta, we lived in San Francisco (and later, San Mateo) for 10 years. When we came to Atlanta in 1982, it was a lovely regional capital with 2 million people. Each decade thereafter the population grew by a million people. By 2000 it was four million. By 2010 it was five million. Today it is a sprawling, still growing metropolitan area. Nice, but for us it has lost its charm. The traffic is postapocalyptic.

As for personal reflections, there is much to be said about living a meaningful life. But as the years go by I find that most of it has already been said, in the traditions of Western civilization, certainly, as well as the other wise and sacred traditions of the globe at large. What was a Yale education for, if not to alert us to this fundamental truth and challenge us to examine ourselves critically? It often seems we simply forget things from time to time, both as individuals and as peoples, and have to relearn them.

We live today in an amazing country, more amazing by far than when we arrived on the Old Campus. I believe it is a unique country, grounded in individual liberty, the rule of law, private property and virtually unlimited opportunity. That’s why people from all over the world want to come here to live and work. Are we perfect? Obviously not. Have we fully lived up to our values? No, not yet. That is a process that will never be complete. But as long as we embrace our values, we are exceptional. Among those I count personal responsibility, respect for others and civil discourse. I acknowledge but reject the postmodern critique, and I am deeply concerned about today’s ferocious, media-fueled identity politics. There is too much self-indulgence and intolerance. Beware false gods.

Across the years I have tried to think carefully and write clearly. To be confident, but curious and eager to learn. To be well-informed, to avoid snap judgments and be flexible. To cherish received wisdom while maintaining a healthy skepticism. I credit Yale for these things and have always been deeply grateful for the opportunity. Many people I’ve known may not have been aware I went to Yale, but I have tried to make sure that if they found out, they would not be surprised.