Jack Casey’s Parliament of Fowls in Times Union
Senate drama recalled, just for laughs
Retired parliamentarian Casey offers satirical e-book poking fun at 2009 state political coup
By Paul Grondahl
Sunday, September 23, 2012
TROY — Jack Casey may never eat lunch in the Capitol again.
Next week, he’s releasing as an e-book a biting satirical novel, “A Parliament of Fowls,” that savages the dysfunctional state Senate following the 2009 coup.
It fictionally portrays the shenanigans of senators Hiram Monserrate, Pedro Espada and company as a howling farce.
“I feel like I finally got to write my own LCA show,” Casey said, referring to the annual spring musical spoof on the Legislature staged by Capitol reporters who are members of the Legislative Correspondents Association.
As a lawyer and a retired, Republican-appointed parliamentarian of the state Senate for 14 years, Casey carefully crafted a legal disclaimer.
“This novel is a work of fiction, a satire, and is intended to be funny, not malicious. Any use of real names is accidental and coincidental, or used as a fictional depiction or personality parody. All names, descriptions, entities, and incidents included in the story are products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, events, and entities is entirely coincidental.”
And then he lets it rip.