Timothy Dean Martin

Author,
Mental Hygiene

Novelist
Poet

Songwriter

Journalist
 The Presentation

http://www.timothydeanmartin.com http://writerunning.blogspot.com

http://spc4michaelmurphy-draftee. http://www.facebook.com/profile.
blogspot.com php?id=136977604
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 About Timothy Dean Martin
Timothy Dean Martin
Timothy Dean Martin, the author of
Mental Hygiene, was born in Piqua, Ohio in 1945,
and grew up with a family that moved between
Ohio, Phoenix, and Los Angeles with some
regularity. The middle son of three, he became
something of a loner and created a happy uni-
verse of his own, populating it with characters
and pretending to be them. He thrived on Hit
Parade Magazine and the weekly Hit Parade TV
show, Classics Illustrated Magazine, and visits
to the local movie theater. His mother exhib-
ited some alarm when he burst into tuneful
imitations of Mario Lanza singing “Drink, Drink,
Drink,” from The Student Prince.
In his junior year of high school in
Covington, Ohio, Martin’s English teacher
required the class to keep a daily journal. His
writing career began. He’d found an outlet for
the characters and stories that swirled in his
mind. In junior college, he discovered poetry
during a ripe literary and cultural time in Los
Angeles — the mid-60s — and read every book
of poems available at Santa Monica City
College. He first became a published poet in
1963, at age 18, and has continued writing
poetry since. In Winter 2010, he will be pub-
lished again in The Hummingbird Review, a
major literary anthology.
“I have been fortunate to live in a time and place where sociological change and color-
ful characters crossed paths. My books are a test of how well I paid attention.”
— Timothy Dean Martin
Martin’s lack of funds prevented him
from attending college regularly. Thus he,
like so many others, was swept up in the draft
at the Vietnam War’s height in 1966. He was
eventually shipped to Fort Jackson, South
Carolina, where he served as a Psychologi-
cal Social Work Technician in the Mental Hy-
giene Clinic. This experience is fictionalized
in Mental Hygiene.
After being discharged from the Army
in 1968, Martin’s poetic talent gave him an
entree into the music business as a lyricist.
He wrote hits that made both the Pop and Country
& Western national charts. Artists for whom
he wrote included David Clayton-Thomas
(Blood, Sweat & Tears), the DeFranco Family,
Manfred Mann, Cilla Black, C.W. McCall, the
Outlaws, Bobbie G. Rice, John Davidson, and
many others. He parlayed his success in the
music business into the world of advertising
and won a CLIO award for Best Radio com-
mercial in 1980.
Martin was also a highly successful
marketing director for several international
high tech firms, and co-owner of another
firm. In 2008, the parallels of his experiences
in military mental health during the Vietnam
era and today’s troubling psychological and
physical assaults on military personnel in the
Iraq and Afghanistan wars compelled him to
retire from business to write Mental Hygiene.
He now lives in Paso Robles, California
with his wife Lynne, a retired public relations
executive. Mental Hygiene is the first in a
trilogy, which will feature a recurring pro-
tagonist, Michael Murphy. Murphy’s journey
of self-discovery parallels that of a country
wrenched from its innocence by the Vietnam
War, a country that encountered ceaseless
waves of change in the ensuing decades.
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Interview:
Timothy Dean Martin
INTERVIEW with Timothy Dean Martin, October 25,
2010 by Robert Yehling on Word Journeys: The Blog
Timothy Martin made his first writing mark
as a lyricist, penning several national pop hits during
the 1970s and 1980s. Now, he returns with his debut
novel, Mental Hygiene, based in part on his experi-
ences in a Mental Hygiene Clinic while serving in the
U.S. Army in the late 1960s. In this interview, Tim
describes not only his novel and the circumstances
surrounding it, but also the process of integrating
life experiences into fiction - and, most significantly,
some of the haunting similarities between what is
happening with returning troops from Afghanistan
and Iraq, and those who returned from Vietnam.
Most specifically, as it concerns post-traumatic
stress syndrome and traumatic brain injury.
Q: In what ways did you incorporate your
personal experience in the Army wi t h t h e
s tor y of Mental Hygiene?
A: Many of the characters were
based on real people with whom I served in
a Mental Hygiene Clinic at Fort Jackson, S.C.
in 1967-68. The historical perspective was
easy because sociological events like wars,
riots, assassinations, and the like, embed
themselves in one’s moral consciousness.
Many people have asked me if Michael Mur-
phy, the protagonist, is based on me. Michael
and I shared the same experience of losing
our innocence, so there is that similarity.
Q: One of the fun aspects of the book that
struck me as really unique - and positive
- was creating a relationship between
Murphy and a young hippie woman. In the
‘60s, the hippie and military cultures were
polar opposites, yet your characters found
a common bond: love. Could you elaborate
on what you saw in the hippie culture as a
young serviceman?
A: When I was drafted, I considered
myself a post-beat era poet. In my mind, post-
beat morphed into the hippie generation. I was
definitely not military material but unwilling to run
to Canada. The hippie culture, big on the west
coast, was an anomaly in South Carolina. None-
theless, thanks to the draft they imported it. Coffee
houses like the UFO in downtown Columbia were
magnets for artists, writers, and counter-culture
types who were draftees from all over the Eastern
Seaboard. That’s what led to the start of the anti-
war movement inside the military. As the Vietnam
War became unpopular, the movement became
emboldened. Peace, love, and rednecks; what a
combination.
Q: Mental Hygiene offers a perspective on the Viet-
nam War that is completely different from other
books that have come out on the subject. What
knowledge did we have in the psych wards about
PTSD, traumatic brain injury and other brain-
oriented afflictions
at that time? I was an English major,
for God’s sake!
A: I don’t
Luckily, I had quality
think it was a matter
of knowledge that psychiatrists to consult
was the problem, with, and a referral
although amateurs procedure.
like me had no
business treating
mental illness. I was an English major, for God’s
sake! Luckily, I had quality psychiatrists to consult
with, and a referral procedure. Mindset was the
big issue then and now; the culture of the military.
It’s difficult to diagnose the patient when the beast
needs to be fed. We had half a million troops in
Vietnam, so careful diagnosis got put on the back
burner.
Q: One thing that’s never talked about, but you
subtly alluded to, was the down time between
battles in Vietnam - and how that messed with
soldiers’ minds. How does the down time in a war
affect one’s psyche?
A: The best depiction of down time I’ve
read is in the novel Matterhorn by Karl Malantes.
The description of living in the bush in Vietnam is
4
soul eroding. In the Afghanistan conflict, soldiers
in the Korengal Valley go about their daily routine
while being constantly attacked. It’s no wonder
that the rates of PTSD and suicide are skyrocket-
ing. Sebastian Junger wrote a book titled War
and made a companion
Until 2006, when documentary, Restrepo,
which deals with the
the Hartford Cou-
stresses ever present
rant published a
in that war zone. Imag-
major news story, ine a fifteen-month tour
PTSD and the of duty waiting for the
alarming suicide other shoe to drop.
rate among return-
ing soldiers from Q: I find Mental Hygiene
Iraq and Afghani- to be an important book
stan was largely today, with so many
ignored in the veterans of Iraq and
national press. Afghanistan coming
home with everything
from PTSD to traumatic
brain injuries and the like. What are the similari-
ties and differences in the way we need to care
for these veterans from what you experienced in
the Vietnam era?
A: In the Vietnam Era, PTSD was largely
ignored by the military. We lost a generation of
men who have never recovered. It’s a disgrace-
ful reminder and lesson that we still seem to be
ignoring. Until 2006, when the Hartford Courant
published a major news story, PTSD and the
alarming suicide rate among returning soldiers
from Iraq and Afghanistan was largely ignored in
the national press. Today, the military and pres-
ent Administration are making bolder proposals
about mental health treatment. Whether they will
bear responsibility and provide funds for more
personnel is unclear, in my opinion.
Q: That’s an interesting point. After otherwise thor-
oughly enjoying the colorful, entertaining story
that is Mental Hygiene, I felt a sense of deja vu, that
we’ve been down this road before with PTSD.
A: It doesn’t help that the Army’s stance
has been to discount PTSD whenever possible
in treatment of returning veterans, according to
reliable reports. Nothing that I know of has been
done to address the “culture” in the military that
encourages soldiers to minimize mental health
problems. Returning troops are not routinely
given a face-to-face interview with mental health
personnel, although some reports state that as
many as 30% of them suffer from PTSD in some form.
Q: You’ve decided to carry on Murphy’s
story in a second book. Without giving up too
much detail, where will we find him heading in his
post-Army life?
A: Murphy will be heading for the music
business circa 1969. It’s just your everyday story
involving sharks in tie-dye, lunatics running the
asylum, and staggering one’s way to the top, a
perfect Michael Murphy environment.
Q: You’ve got quite a diverse writing background.
You were quite successful as a songwriter in the
‘70s and ‘80s. Who were some of the bigger acts
to which you supplied songs?
A: I wrote songs in an era when recording
artists weren’t necessarily songwriters. It gave
me the opportunity and privilege of writing for a
diverse group of artists including David Clayton
Thomas of Blood, Sweat & Tears, C.W. McCall,
the DeFranco Family,
John Davidson, Cilla
Black, the Outlaws,
Manfred Mann, and a Poetry has its own
host of others. It was language. For me,
a fun ride. there’s no room to
maneuver in the heart
Q: You’re also a very
of a poem.
good poet, which I
find can work hand-
in-hand with strong
fiction writing. Could
you briefly discuss
how the precision, voice and feel of poetry cor-
relates - or differs - from what you’re trying to
achieve in your fiction?
A: Poetry has its own language. For
me, there’s no room to maneuver in the heart of a
poem. It’s your entire life on stage alone. It takes
a special courage. Fiction, at least the way I write
it, is like a dance or sometimes like trying to get
cats to march in a parade. It moves outside of me
and tells me what happens next.
For More of the Interview
with Timothy Dean Martin
5
 MENTAL HYGIENE
A Novel by Timothy Dean Martin
Website: http://www.timothydeanmartin.com
Blog: http://writerunning.blogspot.com
Facebook: Timothy Dean Martin

Michael Murphy, a privileged twenty-year-old Southern Californian, has been drafted at

the height of the Vietnam War. After avoiding a tour to Vietnam and completing his training for
assignment as a psychological social work technician, Murphy arrives for duty at the Mental
Hygiene clinic at Fort Jackson, South Carolina in the spring of 1967. Murphy soon learns, “If they
can point the gun at the right guy, then they’re fine.” It is mental health processing, military-style.
It doesn’t take long for Murphy to become disillusioned by the rushed treatments and lack
of concern for the state of the patients — not to mention the games being played by several of
the doctors and officers in charge. Murphy begins to suspect a secret conspiracy among doctors
and psych techs to assist seemingly sane patients escape the Army via medical discharge.
His self-preservation instincts are conflicted by his suspicions and he becomes depressed, a
situation with which he struggles throughout the book.
One clinic detainee not only catches Murphy’s attention, but befriends and influences him
in a way that fuels both Murphy’s disdain for the wartime processing of patients and his awaken-
ing countercultural tastes. Countermanding orders from Major Green, the officer in charge of the
Mental Hygiene clinic, Murphy pays numerous visits to Dr. Howard Shore, who is being held for
court martial. Shore’s perceptions, politics and feelings about the military and the world grab and
hold the impressionable Murphy. However,
after numerous warnings to stay away from The tailpipes of Michael Murphy's
Shore, Murphy is caught and exiled to a man- ’65 red Mustang convertible played a back-
datory thirty-day leave and temporary duty beat to the rock and roll on the car radio
with the Ambulance division. Eventually, he as he waited at the main gate. It was
manipulates his way back into good graces a hot, sticky South Carolina March day, and
and a position on the Psychiatric ward. he was stuck in yet another line. The long
The forced leave cost Murphy more indoctrination in boot camp, and his ability to
than his friendship with Shore and the respect see the futility of pushing back, kept him from
of his superior officers. Earlier, in town, he honking his horn.
had met Naomi Edmond, a beautiful free spirit
with a dark secret. They immediately fell in He was owned, a draftee, an ill-
love, bringing emotional uplift to Murphy’s trained Psychological Social Work Techni-
life at a time when activities at the clinic were cian, undergraduate English major with just
becoming increasingly disillusioning to him. enough military training to be incompetent.
However, the euphoria is brief. He discovers As a Southern California upper middle class,
that Naomi is married and that her husband is handsome white boy with a particular gift of
stationed in Vietnam, and Murphy breaks off manipulating circumstances, Murphy held a
the relationship. clear idea of how lucky he was to be stationed
in the land of magnolias and rednecks.
After returning from leave, Murphy lives
off post in a bungalow with his co-worker and
best friend, Jimmy Leary. Murphy reconciles for more excerpts from Mental Hygiene
with Naomi after hearing her version of a failed
and malignant marriage. He also discovers the full scope of the plot to “free” troops who should
never have been in uniform in the first place — a plot that he suspected from the beginning. Rather
than report or complain about the plot, he joins the conspiracy.

6
 Naomi’s ex-husband, Lieutenant John
Edmond, a sadistic psychopath working for the Murphy was amazed, a little
Army’s Criminal Investigation Division, gets a intimidated. “You mean, give a guy meds
tip about the conspiracy at the Mental Hygiene without him seeing a doctor?”
clinic shortly before he returns to Ft. Jackson
from Vietnam. Coupling his suspicions with “Yes, Murphy. Don’t look so
the knowledge of Murphy and Naomi’s rela- shocked. Wait until you’ve seen how many
tionship, Edmond hatches a plot of psychotic patients we run through here per week. We
revenge. Lives unravel as Edmond launches would never have the time to see all the
his own private investigation, wreaking physi- marginal guys.”
cal and psychological damage in its wake.
Murphy and Naomi believe they will Green continued talking, without
escape to California and they almost make enthusiasm. “The third course of action is
it; but as with the overall theme of Mental to set up an appointment so a shrink can
Hygiene, nobody escapes unscathed. evaluate your trainee.” He sighed. “This
can be done through Lang. The shrinks see
These compelling characters and a patients two mornings a week. Follow-ups
gripping, fast-moving plot offer a unique per- are scheduled between the shrink and Lang
spective to an aspect of war rarely found in so make yourself available to do so.”
books or reports — the fate of soldiers assigned
to mental health clinics. Furthermore, Mental
Hygiene is set against the most tempestuous
social climate in U.S. history: the riot-torn, conflicted landcape of the late 1960s. Meanwhile, the
United States burns in racial upheaval, political assassinations take place, the military sees its
drafted citizens rebel, and radical change
runs out of control.
"Now, down to the dirty business The lives of Murphy, Naomi, Leary
of shrinking, military style. The object of and others are directly impacted by the
this Clinic is to evaluate referred in- now-historical events that shaped the late
patients and outpatients, concentrating 1960s: a fictionalized character based on
on their ability to function in the military. Dr. Howard Levy, court-martialed derma-
That doesn’t necessarily mean sane or tologist, who refused to train Green Beret
medics as a moral and ethical protest;
insane. Are you following me?" Asked
the beginning of the anti-war movement
Green.
inside the military; ongoing Civil Rights
conflicts that result in riots in major cities
"I think so. You mean, if they can
and a burned-down rib joint in South
point the gun at the right guy, then they're
Carolina that directly affects Murphy and
fine.” Naomi; and the assassinations of Martin
Luther King and Bobby Kennedy.
"Well, more or less.”
Mental Hygiene is the first of
three novels to feature the protagonist,
Michael Murphy. I have finished the draft
for more excerpts from Mental Hygiene manuscript of the novel and had it profes-
sionally edited prior to submission for
publication. Furthermore, I have already built the media platform from which I will be assisting
the publisher in promoting the book. This includes my website, www.timothydeanmartin.com;
my blog, writerunning.blogspot.com, and my Facebook page.
Between September and December 2010, visits to my site and blog increased by 30 to
50% per week. My Facebook friends built up from a few dozen to nearly 1,500. I expect this
climb to continue, especially as I roll out article writing campaigns on the most currently vital
subject of my book (the way we treat our returning warriors), and continue to post excerpts and
behind-the-scenes stories of the writing of the book. In addition, I will receive attention through
my advocacy of the non-profit Wounded Warrior Project.

1.
the destruction was
beyond insurance; but i lived
there no more/
claims were only carved
against the vacant/ time was in
the wind/ past was
passed/ torn, mended;
lost, found/
broken hearts transplanted
with a common sense savoir-
faire/
and yet just as sure
as a getaway,
there are those collectors
who never give up/
whose soul occupation
is teaching us to recall;
to flinch
just in case/
and testify
that memories bleed/
2.
half of life is night;
we paint our own dark/
nothing covers our shadows
except broad brushstrokes
and stillness/
we stand
back to the nearest exits/
face trying
not to twitch
and give ourselves away/
but we must;
and again/
POETRY by Timothy Dean Martin
flinch
3.
i created what hunts me
in the night;
it leaps like a light switch
on my insecurities,
eating my confidence/now
i lay me down,
and there is no sleep/
i father my weakness;
raised by the accusation
of terrible mistakes/
i gasp in anticipation
of my missteps/ nothing seems
to disappear in a thousand good
deeds/
the scars are shaped like a
lifetime;
the tears forever,
the night too long/
4.
it didn’t come all at once
like most thoughts in flashes
when i
let them/ it was like cats feet onuntil the palsied past
my first
waking/ i almost didn’t know
until i did; and then
a slow denying shrug
of shoulders followed by a flinch night’s dark/
that knew something was there/
something that glimpsed back,
a thing that noticed
and waited its turn patiently/
for me to change it
into lines each metered
and timed like the mathematics
of pain;
like the poems torn up
lest the truth escape to strangers/
now it draws me,
it asks to be introduced/
i must
as I am unfortunately too polite
and its dread needs to be fed;
this unpainted guest
at the last supper/
this ungrateful unwanted uninitiated
unkind unfortunate
end;
announcing
itself in the whisper
of my own voice/
5.
the house is no more,
but the ghost is real/
they built a freeway over it
and cars whiz through
my old living room/ it was
doomed to repeat itself;
a broken record of dysfunctional
harmony/ i’ve kept moving
until there are no more rooms,
kept flinching
has left me shaken/
and all that’s left
is knowing that
things break/
best isn’t always/
truth is/
To be published in the
Spring/Summer 2011 edition of
The Hummingbird Review
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About Write Running:
The Blog of Timothy Dean Martin and His Work

OK, so the book is edited, queries out to agents, the website is up, the electronic media
kit finished, my Facebook page has filled up with new friends, and I’m scribing on Scribd.com.
Surely, that’s enough already! Nope, not for the terrier Timothy.

That’s where the Write Running Blog comes in — a place where I muse about all the
issues presented in my novel Mental Hygiene, how they present themselves in today’s world, offer
links to sites you might want to check out, various things you don’t know about my characters ...
and my newest innovation: a dedicated space for my protagonist in Mental Hygiene, Spc4 Michael
Murphy.

Being one who has an exceedingly rich inner life, and who maybe listens to his fictional
characters a little too much (one man’s raised eyebrows is another man’s memorable protagonist,
right?), there is always something unsaid or undone, with a multitude of twists and endings. I
always need a new toy, something to add to the constant mix.

Spc4 Michael Murphy - Draftee, the blog, was hatched from that creative soup. It’s the
perfect place for me and my equally obsessed followers to add just a bit more flavor to my novel.
It is the natural resting place for whatever else my youthful protagonist Michael, or any of his
cohorts might have to add. It’s got music, video, snapshots, and a wacky little tale of its own to be
revealed over time.

Whether art is obsessive or obsession is artistic, is something to be debated on a more

philosophical stage. Spc4 Michael Murphy - Draftee is entertaining. If you are like me, that’s the
E-Ticket. http://www.spc4michaelmurphy-draftee.blogspot.com

Sunday, January 2, 2011

Deploying a Suicide

On November 15, 2010, Staff Sergeant David Senft died at Kandahar Air Base, Afghanistan.
The Army’s official cause of death was “injuries sustained in a non-combat incident”. Despite the fact
that the Army’s Criminal Investigative Division has reported to Senft’s father that his son was found
in an SUV with a gun in his hand and a hole in his head, and a cell phone on the car seat with a text
message saying, “I don’t know what to say, I’m sorry”, the Army has refused to call Senft’s death a
suicide...

Click Here
to read more

9
Sunday, September 5, 2010

Deja Vu All Over Again - Mental Hygiene Musing

“Are you bitter?” a friend asked me. I was escorting her and her husband home after a
dinner party the other night.

“No, I’m guilty,” I answered immediately. We were discussing the reason for writing my new
novel, Mental Hygiene.

Mental Hygiene is a coming of age story of Michael Murphy, a privileged twenty-year old
Southern Californian, who has been drafted at the height of the Vietnam War. His considerable
manipulative skills aid him in avoiding the warfront, and land him at Fort Jackson, SC as a Psych
Tech in the Mental Hygiene clinic. Its subject matter is loosely based on my own experiences at the
same time and place...

Click Here
to read more

Saturday, November 6, 2010

Memory Accompaniment

“How does it feel

How does it feel
To be without a home
Like a complete unknown
Like a rolling stone ?”
Like a Rolling Stone
Bob Dylan

I was on the beach in Santa Monica. Bikini babes, sun, and surf, were my world. And then
I heard “Like a Rolling Stone” on somebody’s transistor radio. I changed, and the memory of that
song embedded itself in my brain. Every time I heard it repeated, I would always remember exactly
where I was and how I felt at that moment...
Click Here
to read more

10
 Contact Timothy Dean Martin

Website: http://www.timothydeanmartin.com

Blog: http://writerunning.blogspot.com

E-mail: t1imm@yahoo.com

Phone: 805 • 221 • 5539

Facebook: Timothy Dean Martin

created by: chitra sudhakaran (chinnu_chitra@yahoo.com) 11