At 92, Jim Paulk could easily spend his days looking backward at a long life filled with accomplishments. Instead, he is still looking for ways to contribute.
The U.S. Naval Academy graduate, Navy veteran and retired Procter & Gamble manager did not even begin writing books until his late 80s. Today, he uses writing to preserve remarkable stories, encourage people to value relationships and support causes important to him.
Perhaps most importantly, Jim has concluded after nine decades of living that his accomplishments were never really his alone.
“I don’t think that I actually accomplished anything of significance by myself,” he explained. “Everything was done with others and because of relationships.”
That realization has become central to the meaning and purpose Jim finds in life today.
Relationships matter most
Relationships have played a significant role throughout Jim’s life, especially his marriage to Pat, whom he met while attending the Naval Academy.
A friend invited Jim to spend a three-day weekend at the University of Delaware, where he was set up on three blind dates. Pat was the third.
“I had never met anyone like her,” Jim recalled.
He persuaded Pat to visit Annapolis for a dance. When Jim arrived to meet her on the steps of Bancroft Hall, he initially worried he might not recognize her.
But when they saw each other, the connection was immediate.
“I think our souls met at that point,” he said.
Jim described Pat as beautiful inside and out, but also as someone who remained remarkably down to earth. More importantly, they became best friends as well as husband and wife.
They remained married for 60 years before Pat died nine years ago.
“We had a great 60 years together, and I lost her nine years ago, so I still tell her I love her every day,” Jim explained.
That experience helped reinforce his belief that people should never give up on love, regardless of their age.
“Be ready because you never know,” he said. “Even if you’ve given up, don’t give up.”
A new chapter in his late 80s
Jim’s life also demonstrates that opportunities to pursue new interests do not necessarily disappear with age.
After serving in the Navy, he worked for Procter & Gamble for 26 years. Rather than simply retire, Jim started a consulting company so he could continue working with other retirees.
However, about 18 months later, Jim was asked by a state assemblywoman to lead the effort to get an initiative on the ballot for the next election. This Initiative would change California law and eliminate destructive gillnets from state ocean waters and open the door for raising fish for put back in the ocean.
The monumental task of collecting 600,000 signatures in just five months seemed daunting. However, Jim’s committee launched a major media offensive, which generated a lot of publicity and eventually succeeded in getting the initiative on the ballot.
Several big name celebrities gathered with the committee on election night to watch the results. Before the night was over, the initiative had been passed with 53 percent of the vote.
Shortly thereafter, because Jim had become so well known in California, several fishing publications asked him to write magazine articles for them. That opened the door to a new career as a writer.
Years later, another unexpected opportunity emerged when a friend, Bill Babb, who worked as an outdoor editor and author, suggested Jim could write a book.
However, Jim was skeptical. Even though he had written articles for the fishing magazines, he did not consider himself to be much of a writer. But, Bill encouraged him to gather some of those stories and turn them into a book.
Jim eventually assembled about 20 stories, which became his first book, “Swimming for Our Lives.”
The experience changed the direction of Jim’s life at an age when many people might assume there are few new directions left to explore.
“I had no idea that I would get into writing books,” he said.
Preserving stories that could disappear
Writing eventually became more than a new hobby for Jim. It provided another avenue through which he could serve others.
His book, “Shaking Up the World,” includes 80 stories from 59 authors. Among them are accounts involving Brad Parkinson, who played a central role in developing GPS, and Apollo 16 astronaut Charlie Duke.
When Duke asked Jim to write his story, Jim interviewed him with help from his granddaughter. He combined their notes into a draft, which Duke reviewed and expanded.
Jim is not simply telling his own stories. He is using his skills and relationships to help preserve other people’s experiences for future generations.
His third book, “How I Found Love,” grew out of his conviction that relationships are essential to a meaningful life. The book contains his own story with Pat as well as stories from other people describing different expressions of love.
One of Jim’s favorite stories demonstrates agape love through people who cared for a premature baby during the Depression.
The baby was expected to die. Yet, a nurse named Anne took him home, where she and her sister kept him warm beside a wood-burning stove and fed him every two hours with an eyedropper.
The child survived and eventually served in the Navy before becoming a successful businessman. Decades later, the story still carried deep meaning for him.
Stories like that help explain why Jim continues writing. He recognizes that important experiences can disappear when nobody takes time to record them.
Service is another source of meaning for Jim.
Giving something back
He remains deeply grateful for the opportunities that came from attending the U.S. Naval Academy and believes much of what he achieved in life can be traced back to Annapolis.
“Everything I have in life is due to having gone to Annapolis,” he explained. “There’s no way I could ever give enough.”
Jim has donated his own money to support the academy and promotes fundraising for the Naval Academy Foundation.
His writing also supports causes important to him.
Royalties from his first book support a scholarship fund he established at the University of Delaware in Pat’s name. The fund helps students preparing to become teachers, which was Pat’s chosen profession.
“I know she would be thrilled with that,” Jim said.
Royalties from “How I Found Love” and “Shaking Up the World” support the Naval Academy Foundation and its efforts to preserve naval heritage.
Leadership requires other people
One of Jim’s most important life lessons involves leadership.
Although he has led teams and organized people throughout his life, he does not view leadership as putting himself above everyone else.
“I always consider myself the least important person of a team, even though I’m a leader,” he explained. “I need everyone else more than they need me.”
That philosophy helped Jim throughout decades of volunteer work, where people could simply decline when he asked them to help. Yet, people frequently agreed.
Jim believes the relationships he developed made those accomplishments possible.
His philosophy offers an important lesson for seasoned citizens who want to continue making a difference. They do not have to accomplish everything themselves.
In fact, Jim’s experience suggests the opposite. Meaningful accomplishments often emerge when people build relationships, ask for help and combine their abilities with the talents of others.
Stay open to what comes next
Jim’s life offers another lesson that may be particularly relevant to people over 50. That is to not assume you already know what the rest of your life will look like.
When Jim retired from Procter & Gamble, consulting gave him another opportunity to contribute. Decades later, writing opened another door.
He was in his late 80s when he began producing books.
At 92, those books are preserving history, honoring his wife, supporting charitable causes and sharing lessons about relationships with people Jim may never meet.
That is a significant amount of purpose emerging from something he never expected to do.
Jim also remains convinced that people should stay open to relationships. His message about love is not limited to younger people or those who have never experienced loss.
“Don’t give up on love,” he said.
At an age when society often encourages people to slow down, withdraw or assume their most meaningful contributions are behind them, Jim continues doing something very different.
He is still writing, organizing, giving and remembering. Most importantly, he is helping to ensure the stories of other people are not forgotten.
After more than nine decades of life, Jim has discovered that meaning and purpose are not necessarily found by asking what else we can accomplish for ourselves.
Sometimes they are found by asking what we can still do for others.
For more information
People can contact with Jim on these platforms:
- Facebook personal page = www.facebook.com/jim.paulk.405886
- Facebook author page = www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61565536059908
- Email = jimdpaulk@yahoo.com
Jim’s books, “Swimming For Our Lives,” “Shaking Up The World,” and “How I Found Love” are available on Amazon and in other bookstores. His fourth book, titled “Close Calls,” will be released in 2027.
