Dr. Salter discovers new pursuits in retirement
Leo Salter, PhD., spent 40 years helping patients overcome difficult times and mental illnesses in his work with Volusia County’s Mental Health Center.
But retirement for this busy mental health doctor didn’t mean a relaxed, easy-going kind of transition. Instead, he’s busier than ever with a new career, a new band and new goals on the horizon.
In December 2012, he retired at 75, and the now 80-year-old Dr. Salter hasn’t slowed down, focusing now on breeding horses, raising gardens and publishing exciting works of fiction from both his DeLand home and his mountain retreat in Lake Junaluska, N.C.
He also has formed a band in N.C., having missed his Florida band which performed for more than 20 years in Volusia County, he said. He plays upright bass for the group, which plays a variety of music.
Although Dr. and Evelyn Salter still enjoy six months of each year at their 43-acre DeLand farm where they raise floral greens and breed racing horses, Dr. Salter said his new passion is writing, something he had wanted to do for some time.
“The novel, 'Therapeutic Deception,' has as its main character a Dr. Thorton, a quiet, unassuming psychotherapist who is much like (me),” he said. “The novel takes the reader through the untoward actions and accusations by a patient of the doctor that lead to a courtroom scene.”
While he drew on his personality for the main character, nothing quite like that happened in his real-life when he worked with patients for more than 40 years, he said.
However, his latest novel, “Boys of the Corner,” which is nearing completion, does draw on real-life experiences, with lots of fictional creative license and characters loosely-based on himself and boys he grew up with in Decatur, Ga.
“His friends call Leo a ‘Renaissance man’ because of his many and varied interest,” said Ms. Salter with obvious pride as she listed his accomplishments. “Through the years, many articles have been written about his musical career with his popular band of 20 years; his military career, having served eight years in the U.S. Navy; his psychology career as executive director and chief psychotherapist of the county mental health center; his farming career as a commercial grower of ferns and floral greens; his horseman career as a breeder and trainer of harness race horses and now, his latest accomplishment as a published author.”
Dr Salter’s first book is available on Amazon in paperback. Although he does not yet have a competition date set for his current book, he said he enjoys writing and would like to continue.
By Gina McKee
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