Madoff Fiancee: “No Such Thing as Bad Publicity’

We all got to meet Catherine Hooper on “60 Minutes.” She’s the fiancee of Andrew Madoff, son of Bernie and Ruth. According to Morley Safer, Hooper is “the only one” of the Madoffs to get income from the new book, “Truth or Consequences,” by Laurie Sandell. Hooper has no shame about taking the money, and if she married Andy, he’ll have some, too. (Although really he seems very well fixed and not the least bit contrite. He didn’t even shed a tear on camera for his dead brother.) Hooper has a business and a website–blackumbrella.com. She writes on her blog, in an essay called  “Are Zombies and Preparedness a Perfect Match?” and dated just four days ago:

“There is no such thing as bad publicity,” the saying goes, and the popularity of zombies these days — in books, films, video games and more — presents a publicity option that builds on the “badness” of zombies and the fears they inspire in us humans. Disaster-preparedness organizations can, and do, build upon these natural fears in a good and hopeful way even while capturing the essence of zombies and translating it into the language of natural and man-made emergencies and terrors. A disaster that threatens life demands creativity, resourcefulness and ultimately courage, from those in its path, and Elaine Pittman, in her October 2011 article “Are Zombies and Preparedness a Perfect Match?” describes how emergency preparedness outfits are “jumping on the undead bandwagon” to help create survival plans.”

Apparently Black Umbrella has something to do with being prepared for an emergency, like Hurricane Katrina. I’m not sure if it prepares you for losing your life savings if your investment broker turns out to be a crook.

Hooper, by the way, has already a feature in People magazine. http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20481526,00.html. She’s a good publicist. And she managed to not be asked on “60 Minutes” why she and Andrew were seen Christmas shopping in Soho in December 2008 shortly after turning Bernie Madoff in to the FBI.

PS Credit to dealbreaker.com. I just found a funny piece from October 11th on Hooper. Great minds this alike!