Jule Moon has held many titles in her 93 years, including geologist, paleontology professor, mental health professional, author, musician and lifelong friend.

After growing up in midtown Mobile, Jule pursued a career in geology. She worked for oil companies in Texas for 10 years, and in 1946, she got a job teaching paleontology at the University of Texas — a job that probably would have gone to a man if most of them weren't still deployed in the war, she said.

“The professor who was in charge of the department really didn't like women,” Jule said. “He didn't want a woman, but we became great friends. I stood up to him and I was independent, and he accepted that.”

Jule said she never protested with the women's rights activists or carried any placards. She simply lived how she saw fit, pursued her interests and stood up to injustice in the workplace.

“If I thought I had done what was right, I would stand up for it,” she said.

And that same fearless attitude led her to go back to school at age 42 to pursue a completely different career.

During her years teaching paleontology, she worked mostly with veterans returning from the war who took advantage of the G.I. Bill.

“They were fascinating, and, of course, they had what we know now as PTSD,” Jule siad. “I had to work with them. Some of them were really frightened, and some of them were very angry. We had a lot of episodes in the classroom. As a result of my work with these boys, I got interested in the (mental health) field.”

Jule worked for the rest of her career as a psychiatric social worker and was a pioneer in family therapy. She worked in hospitals and clinics for years and eventually moved into private practice.

“I was very fortunate to work under the people that began the study and practice of family therapy,” she said. “I used to go to workshops all over the country.”

Jule worked until she was 72 years old. When she finally retired, she joined a group of her childhood friends — Joyce Roche, Mary Pillans Van Antwerp, Mary Duggar Toulmin and in Mary Partridge — in Fairhope.

“I kept in touch with my friends I went to school with, and I would come back to visit when they had special occasions or got married,” Jule said. “We had always said we were going to retire in Fairhope.”

In retirement, Jule has explored several other lifelong interests, especially music and writing. She is a member of the Back Porch Folk Singers Band, which visits local nursing homes once a month.

“I have a wooden drum that was given to me by somebody, and I'm the rhythm section,” she said.

Jule is also a published author. Her memoir, “Sherds a Mémoire,” was published in 2011, and she is also one of the authors of “The Fairhope Anthology,” a collection of short stories by the Fairhope Writers' Group, also published in 2011.

The ideas for her writings come from her life experiences.

“You have to write what you know,” Jule said. “Everybody draws on themselves and what they know. But I felt that I had such interesting experiences that it was fun to write. I didn't write for fame or money. I wrote because it was so exciting.”

Fellow Fairhope Writers' Group member and local author Ron Meszaros said Moon is an inspiration.

“She is really interested in everything,” he said. “Whether it's music, ballet or painting, she has more than average knowledge of that field. I think it comes from reading so much.”

Moon said her voracious reading habits began when she was a small child.

“I was sick as a child. It started with the measels and went into pneumonia, and there was a period of time I couldn't go to school, so I read,” she said. “And I've always written, ever since the teacher in third grade said to write a poem about Christmas.”

No matter what Jule Moon has attempted in life — learning, working or writing — she's always been fearless.

“If Jule Moon had been on the other side of the law, she would have been Bonnie of Bonnie and Clyde,” Meszaros said. “She has seen a lot, and because of that, she's not afraid to jump into anything. She marches to the beat of her own drum.”