By Mona McCall
Wakefield Resident Tim O’Leary has found a new calling late in life. After a long career as a lawyer and as a state representative, he has found success as a mystery writer. He has three novels already under his belt, with another on the way next month.
Tim was born and grew up in Watertown, MA, with his six brothers and one sister. His Dad grew up in Cambridge with Thomas P. “Tip” O’Neill . After receiving his law degree, Tim worked in California as a Deputy Attorney General. He returned and worked for the University of Massachusetts, where he met the former political director for the CIO, who rekindled Tim’s love for politics, which he first got from his Dad and Tip O’Neill.
Tim would go on to work in government, elected as a Democratic state representative from Melrose in 1987. He recalls his time in the legislature as “strong disagreements followed by amicability.” This he believes is a huge contrast to the atmosphere now. In his eyes a major source of dysfunction within government today is “lack of mixing concerns.”
After leaving his government position, Tim began work as a deputy director for the Mass General Hospital Mental Health Association. He remained in the post for twenty-two years, until his retirement. Since then, he has focused on his writing career, publishing his novel “The Day Job” in 2010, followed by “Robes” in 2020, and “The Friends Of Ed McGonagle” in 2021.
Tim likes to spend his spare time watching classic movies such as “The Godfather,” “The Usual Suspects,” and “Waking Ned Devine.” He has two children and four grandkids.
