Saugonian publishes book about Korean War

SAUGUS – Tom Sheehan of Saugus recently signed an agreement with Milspeak Book Publishers for “Korean Echoes,” a book of poetry and prose of his time in Korea with the 31st Infantry Regiment. “Korean Echoes” is the 14th book Sheehan has authored or co-authored, as well as his third go at an electronic publication.?It?s about Korea in 1951 and the effects of it on me and my comrades. Once you?re in a hole with somebody, you?re brothers, and my book is trying to express that,” Sheehan said in a phone interview on Wednesday. He also read a passage from “Korean Echoes” about the death of one of his fellow soldiers, John. “Every time I visit our veterans cemetery I see several comrades that came home after me and died a year apart, and now they?re a grave apart. I promised I wouldn?t forget any of them.”Although he?s now retired, Tom Sheehan seems anything but. After years of working at Raytheon as a technical writer, Sheehan, now 83, has spent the past 20 years polishing his craft and pursuing his true passion: poetry and creative writing.And he has certainly kept busy over the past few years writing hundreds of published works.Before losing his wife Elizabeth last December, Sheehan would spend his days writing on his laptop with Elizabeth, immobilized by her oxygen tank, sitting nearby.Sheehan said he started writing in second grade, around the same time that his family moved from Charlestown to Saugus. He attributed much of his success to the English teachers and mentors he had at Saugus High School, including John Burns, who later wrote “A Gathering of Memories: Saugus 1900-2000” and “Of Time and the River, Saugus 1900-2005” with Sheehan. The proceeds from the combined 4,500 copies sold went to the John Burns Millennium Book Associates Scholarships for Saugus High School graduates.Much of Sheehan?s solo work has been fiction, but he said that many of his stories have originated from true events, like his service in the Korean War, and his characters are based on people he could never forget.?I?d be riding by the cemetery on my bicycle and I?d get ideas for the names of my characters from the stones, like Dumont Pulsifier, who came to be known as ?Scratch.?”Sheehan has authored several short story collections, including “Epic Cures” and “Brief Cases, Short Spans” – both of which were published by Press 53 with cover artwork by former Saugonian painter Jeff Fioravanti.The Oregon-based publication, Rope and Wire Magazine, now has more than 200 of Sheehan?s pieces on its site, many of which are cowboy stories. Some of the western stories have also appeared in Rosebud Magazine, a literary publication available at hundreds of bookstores worldwide.?A few years ago I said, ?I?ve never been on a horse, but I bet I could write a good cowboy story,?” Sheehan explained. “So, I wrote about people who went west to be cowboys. I have them coming from Italy, the Balkans, Ireland.”Other publications carrying Sheehan?s work include Ocean Magazine, Dzanc Best of the Web for 2009, Vermont Literary Review, Troubadour 21, Milspeak Anthology of Veterans? Writing, along with many other journals and magazines.Sheehan has received an Independent Publishers Award, a Georges Simenon Award for Excellence in Fiction, a Silver Rose Award, 15 Pushcart nominations and three Best of the Web nominations.Sheehan doesn?t plan to slow down, either. He is currently working on three fiction novels titled “Murder From the Forum,” “Death of a Lottery Foe” and “Death by Punishment.”?Better use all your energy and all you?ve got while you?re still here,” Sheehan said.