Author, Strike Two, You’re Out.

Tim Hassett Salley arrived on the Bridgewater State University campus in 1981 as a 20-year-old graduate student, having graduated from Providence College as a Psychology/Music double major. He completed his M.Ed. in Counseling in 1983, and his C.A.G.S. in Counseling in 1986, preparing him for a vocation as a psychotherapist and an avocation as a musician. 

His musical journey began in 1970 as a drummer. He began playing classical guitar in 1975, and piano in 1979. He made his conducting debut with his first orchestral arrangement in 1980. Throughout the 1980's, he was active in community musical theater as a percussionist in pit orchestras and as a drum teacher for the Plymouth County Conservatory of Music.

His BSU education prepared him for a career in psychotherapy and disability management. For many years he maintained a private psychotherapy practice and co-led a men’s therapy group for the South Shore Women’s Center. His practice focused on the treatment of domestic violence and incest perpetrators. During these same years, Tim Hassett Salley also held executive level positions in the field of disability management for non-profit and for-profit companies alike. He also ran a homeless shelter as the first Executive Director of the Plymouth Area Coalition for the Homeless.

A lifelong proponent of liberal arts education and the performing arts, Tim made his first foray into the literary arts after six years of writing with the publication of his novel, Strike Two, You’re Out. This work of fiction follows the abbreviated life of Joe Davis, an antihero for modern times. It is the story of a young man who suffers psychological trauma and proceeds through life without resolving his underlying emotional conflicts.  Tim draws upon his experience as a psychotherapist to develop several characters in the book, yielding an emotional story which challenges readers to reflect on their own values.

The culmination of Tim Hassett Salley’s artistic output was the composition of the song, Two Love Birds for his novel. The song plays a dual role in the story as both a sweet “love poem” and as a double entendre-laden tune. Two Love Birds is a staple on the playlist for the band, The Dennis James Trio, in which Tim is the drummer. He is currently writing his next novel.

Tim and his wife, Cecily Hassett Salley, G’82, have three adult children and two grandchildren, and reside in Plymouth.