“Coral Tree Life Lesson” #1 comes from one of our beloved, long-time friends: the one-and-only Doris Felman.

Doris teaches us so much: particularly about resilience, curiosity & the power of lifelong learning.

At 95 (she was 93 when we worked on her bio together), Doris has had an incredible career spanning nuclear science, law, teaching, and real estate.

But what stands out most about Doris is her love of knowledge & her generosity in sharing it.

Doris has a way of making the world feel bigger and more fascinating.

I hope you find Coral Tree Life Lesson #1 as helpful and down-to-earth as we do.

Coral Tree Life Lesson # 1: Wisdom from Our Friend Doris Felman

“Concentrate on doing your work and doing the best job you can. That is a lesson for life: to be proud of what you do.“

Kate:
Doris, what are the most important lessons you feel you’ve learned over the course of your life?

Doris:
Well, my husband used to say — and he always encouraged me in whatever job I had — don’t pay attention to anything that’s going on; just concentrate on doing your work and doing the best job you can. That is a lesson for life: to be proud of what you do.

And that’s what I am; I’m proud of what I did. And I think what I did, somebody else might not have been able to do. I’m proud of my accomplishments. I’m proud of the way I did them. I have a great deal of satisfaction because of the way I performed my jobs.

And the other side of that is, you don’t want to do anything that you’ll be sorry for. See politicians, for example, they are compromising themselves for money all the time. I would not want to be a politician!

The other one is, if you have an argument, always try to settle it amicably so that the other party will not go away feeling you took advantage of them. You never know when you might need that person again. Those are two things I learned.

Further Reading

• You can read Dori’s short biography here: “Our Friends | Doris Felman ~ The Extraordinary Life of an American Woman”
• Pitt Magazine’s Top Secrets: Doris Felman’s math and science skills helped to power one of the world’s first nuclear submarines. She didn’t stop there. [from Pitt Magazine’s Fall 2022 issue. It was published on October 10, 2022.]
• California v. LaRue: The Demise of the “Bottomless” Bar, Doris M. Felman for the Pepperdine University Law Review, published December 15, 19773
• Alderdice High School Alumni