Casey's Law

March 31, 1997
Born in Boston in 1920 into a family of Irish immigrant stock, business titan Casey watched his father lose his company in the Depression. But the son went on to become president of Times Mirror, CEO/chair of American Airlines, U.S. postmaster general and head of the Resolution Trust Corporation's savings-and-loan bailout, among other endeavors. His eponymous "law"--if something can go right, it should--sounds flat compared to the famous precept it challenges, Murphy's law: if anything can go wrong, it will. Yet his autobiography, written with Seaver, his book publisher, is full of wit and Irish charm and illustrates what can go wrong in business deals--and how to make things go right. Sprinkled with cameos of President Johnson, Nelson Rockefeller, Armand Hammer, Norman Mailer, Jack Nicklaus, Henry Luce, Bill Paley and many others, this spirited self-portrait is the inspirational testament of a mover and shaker who projects tough-minded integrity. Photos not seen by PW. 75,000 first printing; $50,000 ad/promo; author tour.