Frontispiece Portrait • July 2017
A Journey Worth the Trip
The Autobiography of Thomas J. Walsh, M.D.
“Why did I write this book? If it were to tell you, the reader, all the wonderful things I think I did in my life, I could have put it all on a postage stamp. But I have decided to tell you about my wonderful family and all the people I have met who have made my life worth the trip.”
Front Matter
Dr. Walsh's July 2017 prologue and his personal 'Who's Who' directory of family, mentors, and lifelong friends.
Prologue
Dr. Walsh explains why he wrote his memoir for his children and grandchildren, crediting friend and editor Ralph Wimbish.
Who’s Who: People & Places
A personal cast of characters—from Sally, his children, and Irish ancestors to Vince Lombardi, Buzz Aldrin, Frank Walsh, and overseas colleagues.
Early Life & Education (1931–1958)
Irish-New York roots, Depression-era Bronx and Aunt May's home, Xavier High School, Plebe year at West Point, Fordham College, and Wake Forest's Bowman Gray School of Medicine.
Those Who Went Before
Family origins of NYPD Mounted officer and WWI veteran Thomas J. Walsh Sr., mother Virginia Hughes Walsh, stepmother Josephine, and father-in-law J.R. Maust.
The World before Cell Phones
Growing up during the Great Depression and World War II—victory gardens, radio serials, milk deliveries, and New York neighborhoods before television and cell phones.
My early years in the Bronx and with Aunt May
Childhood on University Avenue in the Bronx and living with his devoted Aunt May Hughes Stuart in New Jersey and Flushing after his mother fell ill.
Xavier
Cadet officer, varsity footballer under Seven Blocks of Granite lineman Leo Paquin, and New York City champion debater at Xavier High School.
West Point
Entering the U.S. Military Academy on July 1, 1950, Beast Barracks, Plebe football tryouts under Vince Lombardi, camp camaraderie, and the knee injury that redirected him toward medicine.
Fordham
Pre-med studies at Fordham College, enduring legendary Jesuit chemistry professors, working odd jobs across New York, and winning admittance to medical school.
Medical School
Four formative years at Wake Forest's Bowman Gray School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, meeting Sally Maust, their June 21, 1958 wedding in Pelham, and honeymooning in Bermuda.
Internship, U.S. Army & Fellowship (1958–1965)
St. Vincent's Hospital in Greenwich Village, Captain in the U.S. Army Medical Corps near the Korean DMZ, an autumn 1960 voyage around the world with Sally, residency, and Bascom Palmer fellowship.
Interning
Rotating internship at St. Vincent's Hospital in Greenwich Village—ambulance runs, 36-hour shifts, rooming with Dr. Carl Weiss Jr., and welcoming firstborn son Tommy in March 1959.
Army and Korea
Basic officer training at Fort Sam Houston, commanding two dispensaries at I Corps Artillery HQ near the Korean DMZ, public-health service in Pochon, and serving as Aide-de-Camp to Brig. Gen. Mervyn Magee.
Trip Home from Korea
Reuniting with Sally in Tokyo for a six-week round-the-world journey through Hong Kong, Bangkok, Delhi, Agra, Rome, Switzerland, Germany, and Denmark, followed by Fort Totten and Fort Tilden in NYC.
Residency and Fellowship
Ophthalmology residency back at Bowman Gray and his Neuro-Ophthalmology fellowship under Dr. J. Lawton Smith at Miami's Bascom Palmer Eye Institute and Johns Hopkins mentor Dr. Frank Walsh.
Yale, Stamford Practice & The Decades (1965–2017)
Five decades leading Neuro-Ophthalmology at Yale School of Medicine, 33 years of Stamford private practice, and family life in Darien from the 1960s into the 21st century.
Yale
Founding and leading Yale School of Medicine's Neuro-Ophthalmology Service under Dr. Marvin Sears and Dr. Gilbert Glaser, teaching generations of residents, and clinical adventures in New Haven and Haiti.
Practice years, 1965-1970
Settling in Darien, launching his Stamford ophthalmology practice, serving in the U.S. Army Reserves through his 1968 promotion to Major, and friendships with West Point First Captain Bob Woods.
The 1970s
Publishing his landmark 1978 textbook and 1979 AAO Visual Fields manual, election to Yale's Board of Permanent Officers and the Cosmos Club, and family milestones on Salt Box Lane.
It is now the 1980s. How time flies
Debutante balls in New York, hosting Chinese pioneer Dr. Katherine Lao and Dr. Tennyson Hu at Yale, college graduations, and thriving clinical practice in Stamford.
Now it is the '90s. How the years move on.
Selling his Stamford private practice in November 1998 after 33 years, earning his 1999 Medical Management credential at Yale School of Management, and welcoming grandchildren.
It is now the next century
Reflections on the new century, West Point reunions, friendships with Buzz Aldrin and Xavier classmates, and continuing teaching and research at Yale.
Walter Reed, Societies & Fellowships
Fifty years consulting at Walter Reed Army Hospital, the Cosmos Club, the International Order of Characters, the Eye Study Club, and Winter Olympic adventures.
My Life at Walter Reed
Half a century as Consultant in Neuro-Ophthalmology to the Surgeon General at Walter Reed Army Hospital, training military ophthalmologists and being named Honorary Alumnus in 1984.
Cosmos Club
Life inside Washington's historic Cosmos Club after his 1979 election in the category of science authorship, and reciprocal stays at private clubs worldwide.
International Order of Characters (IOC)
Aviation legends in the International Order of Characters—Sen. Barry Goldwater, Sergei Sikorsky, RAF and Luftwaffe Battle of Britain commanders, and a 1983 Aegean voyage.
Eye Study Club
Ten vibrant years in the Eye Study Club—Hawaii's Mauna Kea, Madeira's toboggan baskets, collaborating with Mayo Clinic's Dr. Tom Kearns, and hosting the joint British-American meeting in Spain and Tangier.
Olympics
Olympic pin-trading and winter adventures from Lake Placid's 1980 'Miracle on Ice' to Calgary (1988), Lillehammer and Bergen (1994), and lecturing at Stockholm's Karolinska Hospital and Nobel Institute.
Global Missions & Great Travels (1970–2008)
Opening Yale's medical exchanges in China (1979), lecturing across Ireland, Scotland, London, Oxford, and Stockholm, and Orbis International missions to Peru, Outer Mongolia, Ethiopia, and Oman.
First China Trip, 1979
Reopening Yale's medical ties in Beijing and operating in Shanghai in 1979, returning in 1984 to Xi'an's Terracotta Warriors, Hong Kong, and Japan, plus a diplomatic medical mission to Chile via Rio.
Ireland in the 1980s
Lecturing in Dublin and touring Ireland, hunting for Chinese battle art at Taipei's National Palace Museum, family journeys through Scotland, European Neuro-Ophthalmology congresses, Italy, and an Orbis mission to Lima, Peru.
Outer Mongolia and beyond
Humanitarian Orbis missions to Ulaanbaatar, Outer Mongolia and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in 2004, an Honorary Degree in Beijing, saving an airline passenger en route to JFK, exploring the Nile, and a 2008 Yale mission to Oman.
Trips to London 1970 to 2000
Three decades of beloved family visits to London—walks from Knightsbridge to Pall Mall's clubs and toy-soldier shops, rounds at Queen Square, delivering the 1980 European Lecture at Oxford, Wimbledon, and Henley.
Family Stories, Retirement & Curriculum Vitae
Tributes to Sally, stories of Tommy, Sara, Kelly, Meg, grandchildren, and beloved family Shelties, his Yale retirement celebration, and complete Curriculum Vitae.
Family Stories
Affectionate portraits of Sally, Tommy, Sara, Kelly, Meg, his grandchildren, and generations of loyal family Shelties named Boots, Max, and Clancy.
The Last Hurrah
Photographs and memories from Dr. Walsh's Yale Ophthalmology retirement celebration alongside fellow department chairs and national leaders in academic ophthalmology.
To My Next Formation & Curriculum Vitae
Dr. Walsh's official Curriculum Vitae, documenting his degrees, Army service, Yale and Dartmouth appointments, honors, visiting professorships, textbooks, chapters, and peer-reviewed papers.