A Year of Change and Consequences

by Mark Singel

Mark Singel, a Johnstown native and Penn State graduate, won election as Lieutenant Governor in 1986 as Robert Casey's running mate. In 1993, Governor Casey was stricken with Appalachian familial amyloidosis, a rare and usually fatal liver disorder. The governor required a multiple organ transplant, which was still experimental at that time. While the governor was incapacitated and recovering, Mark Singel became the acting Governor of Pennsylvania. This book is Mark Singel's recollection of the events that year.

302 pages, Hardcover

Published June 13, 2016

Reviews

[Steven Peterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fascinating look at an elected public officials who faced an extreme challenge. He was serving as Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania. Then governor Robert Casey had very serious health problems and had to step aside as governor for health reasons. Singel then became governor. What makes the story more intriguing is that he still served as presiding officer in the Pennsylvania Senate. The party division was dead even, so Singel on any number of occasions had to case the deciding vote. To make matters even more interesting, he was beginning his own campaign to become governor after Casey left office. Three different tasks that took a great deal of time and effort.

There are some fine elements to this book: Singel's depiction of how his family fitted into a turbulent public life; the partisan politics in the Senate, with him having to navigate a difficult process; his relationship with the governor's staff and his own; the enormous energy needed to raise funds for his campaign.

He briefly notes toward the end of the book his thoughts after losing the gubernatorial election noted above (to Tom Ridge). It is a poignant comment (page 255): "I am left with a perception similar to the one that my father and brother share: 'I could have accomplished more.'"

All in all, a fine work on the work of Mark Singel in a year of change and consequences. . . .

[George Hancock · Rating 4 out of 5]

A somewhat dry rendition of the events surrounding Mark Singel's time as Acting Governor of Pennsylvania in 1993.