Thomas James Walsh, Jr. – 50th Reunion Essay

Thomas James Walsh, Jr.

2534 Syon Dr.

Memphis, TN 38119-7441

twalsh@fordharrison.com

901-335-6770

Spouse(s): Jean McKee Walsh (1969–2016, deceased)

Child(ren): Courtney Walsh Marsh (1975); Meredith McKee Walsh (1978)

Grandchild(ren): Molly Marsh (2001); Becca Marsh (2004); Amelia Marsh (2007)

Education: University of Virginia School of Law (JD 1975)

Career: Taught high school 3 years, have practiced law 43 years, last 20+ years with FordHarrison LLP (national labor & employment firm), mostly handling federal appeals

Avocations: Baseball, photography, travel, writing, history, trivia; active in church and community organizations

College: Silliman

I arrived at Yale as a shy, socially awkward 17-year-old, from a Southern family of very modest means. I’d never been away from home, and had very limited experiences beyond my native Memphis. I was about as green as they come, and I think I knew it.

So, it was at the perfect time, the dawn of my adulthood, through a variety of experiences Yale opened my mind and heart to the world. I worked hard on my studies and honed my critical thinking and writing skills. Those have come in handy during my 43 years as a practicing lawyer on the civil side, mainly focused on federal appeals.

Like many of our generation, at Yale I also became actively involved in issues of peace and justice, under the spellbinding Coffin influence. Those passions have guided my life since. I’ve worked off and on in inner-city public schools and still regularly volunteer in several. Over the years I’ve advocated for racial justice, gender equity, immigrants’ rights, and criminal justice reform. I helped found a faith-based peace organization and traveled the world in support of its aims.

But I have awakened more and more to one central truth: In the midst of all my advocacy and public involvement with lofty issues—none of which I regret, and all of which I still find worthy endeavors, even the many failed efforts—I’ve come to understand that personal relationships enlarge and enrich life like nothing else.

I learned this most of all from life with an extraordinary woman, Jean, my wife for 47 years, and learned it again from her death in 2016, a blow that has caused me to re-evaluate everything. I’m constantly learning it from my two daughters and three granddaughters, all amazing and talented, and from their terrific husbands. I’m also learning it from my other family members and wonderful circle of friends.

All these things are connected. In my experience, a true understanding of justice and peace, even at the global level, begins with those ancient individual verities, such simple gifts as generosity and compassion—and yes, love.

In all this process of learning, I have only one major regret, that I didn’t do a better job of strengthening and maintaining friendships from our Yale years. I think while there I was a little too busy trying to prove I actually belonged in a place where everyone seemed to be smarter and more gifted than I was (as many of you were!). I wish I’d been a little less buried in books and more open to the lives of others around me, a more active listener and involved friend. That’s one thing I would do differently, if we had do-overs.

And I wish I’d done more to keep track of college friends since graduating. I hope it’s not too late to renew some of those friendships, maybe even add some. Perhaps the occasion of our 50th will afford me/us that opportunity. I do hope so.