I am going to pitch my novel, “Skyscrapers,” in LA in November. My publisher thinks the topic of corporate malfeasance might be of interest because of the success of “The Big Short” and others. My take on malfeasance is unique in that in “Skyscrapers” it is teamed with drug laundering.
I know more about corporate malfeasance than I would like to, being personally affected by both the collapse of Continental Bank and Trust of Chicago and by Enron down in Houston. Continental was said to be the “best run bank in America” when my husband became its General Counsel, just two weeks before Penn Square. Then Continental became the biggest bank failure in American history. My husband’s life became hell, with five CEO’s in eight years. They required him to do a lot of firing of good people, he had to testify in front of the House Banking Committee, and so on. His only ally at the bank died of a heart attack. He eventually left the bank, but never regained his joie de vivre. He was a permanently sadder man.
My own direct hit was trickle-down effect from Enron. I was CEO of a small non-profit, Reading Is Fundamental (RIF), housed at Arthur Andersen. RIF gave away 160,000 free books to inner-city children in Chicago’s toughest neighborhoods. When Enron went down, it took down Arthur Andersen and RIF found itself on the street. It’s not easy to find housing for staff, let alone thousands of books which have to be packaged and delivered to the Chicago Public Schools. So for me the term “corporate malfeasance” recalls the harm done to everyone in a business from top to bottom, including all those out in the community harmed by the “trickle-down” effect.
My character, Vern Webb Sr. is potentially harming everyone in his legitimate business by retaining the money-laundering business within it. He is also harming the community in general, even while posing as a strong business leader and philanthropist. His charisma, strong will and high intellect haven’t stopped the greed which leads to the events in the novel.
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