THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – Friday, February 21, 2020 Page 3 ~ THE ADVOCATE ASKS ~ Venerable Saugus author Thomas Sheehan has more books to write as he nears 92nd birthday Editor’s Note: For this week’s interview, we sat down with Saugus’s best-known book author, Thomas Sheehan, who has written 45 books and numerous magazine and website articles since retiring about three decades ago. Sheehan, who turns 92 on March 5, works by typing with two fingers on his computer keyboard, which sits at the end of a long table in the kitchen of his Central Street home – in a house that was built in 1742. Sheehan was born in Charlestown, Mass., the son of a U.S. Marine who was in charge of quarters on Old Ironside. He has been a resident of Saugus since around 1937. He is a 1947 graduate of Saugus High School, where he developed a love for writing and was also a standout athlete. Sheehan is a Korean War veteran who served two years in the U.S. Army, discharging as a staff sergeant. He earned his bachelor’s degree in English at Boston College in 1956. After college he worked for 26 years at Raytheon in North Andover, where he wrote company policies. He was married for 37 years to the late Elizabeth Ann Beth (Rooney) Sheehan, a nurse who died in 2010. They had a daughter and two sons, including James, who lives with his dad on Central Street. Some highlights of the interview follow. Q: I understand that you are not very political. A: I never got into politics. I’m a registered Republican who votes Democratic every time out of the box. Q: You must be the only Saugus Republican who didn’t vote for Donald Trump in the last presidential election. A: Absolutely. Q: So, how was it working at Raytheon? A: I had it made. I had my own office – my own secretary in a nice corner. Q: So with the writing background, you decided “I’m going to retire from Raytheon, but I’m not going to retire”? Q: And how long will you continue? A: The doc said this morning, “You’re looking pretty good, going onto your 92nd year.” I said, “I’m going onto my 93rd year, because I will be 92 years in March” – March 5th, 3-5-28 – and then I will be in my 93rd year the next day. Q: So you will continue … A: As long as I can go – hell, A FUTURE WRITER: A page from the 1947 Saugus High School yearbook noted a young Thomas Sheehan’s interest in mystery writing. A: Absolutely. Q: And how did that work? A: It worked fine. It worked fine. I was hungry and ready to do a lot of this stuff [books and articles] and not being interrupted by a boss who would ask “Did you get this done yet?” Or the plant manager saying, “I need a new procedure.” I was at their beck and call because I worked there for 26 or 27 years, I think. Q: So, how did your writing career take off? A: What I gave you there – “A Collection of Friends” – that was the breakthrough book. I don’t even know when I wrote that; I can’t remember. But that was the very first one. Q: So, sometime after 1991. A: That was the first of 45 books. I have 470 cowboy stories on a site in Oregon, and I’ve never been on a horse. It’s called Rope & Wire Magazine. And he publishes everything I send him. Q: What do you consider your best book of all your writings? A: Who knows. I forget a lot of things. But as I sit here, a lot of it comes back and goes away. Sometimes I ask, “Where does that come from?” And I might happen to glance at a picture or look at an emblem or see a nail and remember where I dug them up. I have written stories about that old shoe, about that pistol up there. And of course, about the combat badge I received from Korea, and all of that. They all trigger something. It’s what keeps you going. If you find something hot, you keep at it, so there’s three books underway right now. Q: What’s your typical day as a writer? When do you start and when do you finish? A: Historically, since I retired, I go to bed at 9 o’clock every night. Invariably, I’m at this table from 1 o’clock till 2:30 a.m., then back to bed and get up. So, I’ve been at this table every early morning and I have been doing that for … I guess 10 years anyway. The only thing – if there is a hockey game or football game, because we are hockey nuts and football nuts, all my boys played football, hockey and baseball. Q: How many hours a day do you write? How many hours at the keyboard? A: Oh, it’s slowed down somewhat. Q: What do you hope to be remembered for by your town? You’re not a native of Saugus, but it’s become your town. What do you hope will be your legacy? A: I never think of that. I just hope that some people go to the library and read some of the books that I have written. That’s the big thing. I want people to read some of the things ASKS | SEE PAGE 13 Dry Call and book your appointment with Erica. A PILE OF HIS WRITINGS: Many of Thomas Sheehan’s 45 books take up space on the table where he does most of his work. Like us on Facebook and Instagram
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