Sam Singer, Master of Disaster -- What's He Thankful For?

Think of it as an opportunity...

​It ain't well and truly a disaster until someone hires Sam Singer. Had it been a possibility, the organizers behind The Children's Crusade, The Tacoma Narrows Bridge, or a certain less-than-structurally sound tower in Pisa would have all hired Singer, the "Master of Disaster," to mitigate their woes.

PR ace Singer's client list is a veritable who's who of people who've seriously fouled up. The San Francisco Zoo in the wake of a tiger leaping from its enclosure and killing a child. The Bar Pilot's Association in the wake of a bar pilot -- who had so many medical conditions the subsequent accident report took 18 pages to list them -- plowing into the Bay Bridge. His most recent client is Assemblywoman Mary Hayashi, who followed up a shoplifting arrest by scowling in her police mug shot like an unmasked Scooby-Doo villain.

All of which leads to the question -- Sam, what are you thankful for on Thanksgiving?

Smile and the world smiles with you...

​His answer: The usual -- mayhem, destruction, negligence, incompetence. It pays the bills!

"Many people look at things that are troublesome or look like disasters. I like to look at these as opportunities to reframe issues," he says. "I'm thankful there are problems and controversies and disasters because it gives me a chance to ply my trade, which is to refocus and reposition things."

He also gives thanks, incidentally, for the ability to "live in the Bay Area ... and really great children and a great wife who put up with me."

But, still, it would have been better if Hayashi smiled in that mug shot, right?

"On the one hand, though, when you look at the photo it shows someone who is very sad. And it is reflective of how she felt wrongly accused and knew this would be something that would be an issue for her."

Nice. Nice. But a smile still would have been better, right?

"I still would have liked a better smile, yes."

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