William Farnham Taylor, MD – 50th Reunion Essay

William Farnham Taylor, MD

5716 West Sugar Creek Rd

Charlotte, North Carolina 28269

wtaylor98@ymail.com

704-577-2114

Spouse(s): Sue Asbury (Life partner since 2012)

Child(ren): Aurora Taylor (1995); Isabel Taylor (1997)

Education: Yale, BA, 1969, Cornell Medical College, MD, 1973, U of Wash (Seattle) Internal Med 1978

Career: ER doctor, 12 years in Tacoma WA, 14 years in Charlotte; Addiction, Pain practice, 10 years counting

Avocations: Mountaineering, Aviation, Opera, Duplicate Bridge

College: Berkeley

Jordan Peterson, psychologist and internet celebrity, says the purpose of life is to “ameliorate unnecessary suffering.” I already knew this unconsciously, and so my career in medicine led to underserved and marginalized patients, first in emergency medicine in 1978, then in addiction medicine and pain medicine in 2008. No glory, no wealth, but blessed with work that I love and hope to never quit. Please check out my Facebook page, “Renewal Medicine.”

At Yale, I began to see that the academic enterprise was not a fit for me. The joy of learning became eclipsed by the drudgery of writing papers and long hours in the lab. The insanity of the outside world took its emotional toll as well during our era there.

To this day, the most meaningful course I took at Yale was a freshman seminar on the history of music from Miloš Velimirović. Suddenly my nascent love of classical music became accessible, which led to a lifelong passion for music, especially opera.

Opera led me to a nearly empty movie auditorium in 2011 showing the Metropolitan Opera’s transmission of Satyagraha by Philip Glass. The love of my later life, Sue Asbury, was waiting there to meet me. We’ve had six intense, wonderful years together. She is a bridge expert, and thanks to her pounding the game into my recalcitrant head, I’ve become a Bronze Life Master and played duplicate bridge all over the US.

Prior to my Medicare eligibility, I reveled in less cerebral avocations. I climbed all the summits over 4,000 feet in New England, then in Seattle I led climbs with the Mountaineers, leading ascents of Mt. Rainier, Mt. Baker, and Mt. Olympus, and reached the summits of Mt. St. Helens (pre-eruption), Mt. Stuart, and Liberty Bell. Outside Washington, I reached the top of the Grand Teton, Popocatépetl (Mexico), Ben Nevis (Scotland), and Grossglockner and Wildspitze (Austria). I also learned to ski in Washington and spent several sublime weeks helicopter skiing in the Canadian Rockies.

After surviving all that, I took to the skies myself, piloting my little Cherokee N8387R all over North America on the slightest pretext. Favorite flights included the Alaska Highway, the wilderness west coast of British Columbia, Stehekin and the San Juan Islands in Washington, and the North Carolina Outer Banks.

Whether it’s caring for patients or flying, I’ve learned that book learning is no substitute for apprenticeship, or supervised performance.

I finally walked down the aisle at age 42. Neither book learning nor apprenticeship prepared me, and the marriage didn’t last. My two daughters, though, are a source of immense pride. Aurora is finishing up this year at University of Chicago, and Isabel will finish next year at Oberlin. They are my indispensable guides to life in the 21st century.

My dear friends from Yale, Juan Montermoso and Bob Shevlin, have been a continuous presence despite the separation of continents and oceans.

My time at Yale was truly a gift for which I will always be grateful.