His Public Relations Specialty: Scandals
By Mark Peters
Hartford Courant [Connecticut]
January 3, 2007
http://www.courant.com/news/local/hc-ctdrohan0103.artjan03,0,632491.story?coll=hc-headlines-local
Thomas Drohan was the public relations man to call when things went wrong.
For almost two decades, clients hired Drohan to answer the questions they would rather avoid. His forte was crisis management, serving as a spokesman for Colonial Realty as the company collapsed in scandal, the Diocese of Bridgeport as it faced allegations of sexual abuse by priests and Education Alternatives Inc. during its ill-fated venture operating Hartford public schools.
Drohan, an Old Saybrook resident, died Monday at Yale-New Haven Hospital at age 73. His family said he died after a long illness following a bad fall over the summer.
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| Thomas Drohan: The well-known public relations crisis manager died Monday at 73. Photo by |
"He gravitated to the story that other people didn't want to touch, didn't want their names associated with," said Donald Gaudreau, his lawyer and longtime friend.
Drohan, the opposite of the bland, buttoned-down corporate spokesman, was a specialist.
"He carved this niche out," his wife, Linda, said Tuesday. "He said everyone deserved to have their story told."
His strategy with bad news, Gaudreau said, was to tell the public about it early and provide as much information as possible. Clients sometimes resisted, but Drohan would tell them that was the advice given by professors at Harvard Business School. The companies would usually follow his lead.
He later admitted to Gaudreau that he didn't really know what Harvard told its business students, but that if the university didn't teach his straightforward strategy, it should.
"He was a wisecracking Irishman from Boston" who had a love for cigars, golf and the Boston Red Sox, Gaudreau said.
Drohan liked the big story and being part of it. Al Terzi, a news anchor for WFSB-TV, Channel 3, described Drohan as a straight shooter who understood news and reporters. Drohan took the time to explain what was happening rather than curtly say "no comment" and leave reporters with an opaque company statement, Terzi said.
"He was just a fun guy to be around on a professional level and a personal level," Terzi said.
Drohan had experience on the other side, as well. His father was a newspaperman in Boston, and Drohan, after graduating from college, went to work as a sportswriter for Boston newspapers. He moved into public relations in New York City and became director of public relations and communications for United Technologies Corp. in the early 1980s.
Among the challenges he handled at UTC were a major strike and accusations that the company had overcharged the federal government. He rose to the position of chief spokesman for the industrial conglomerate, the state's largest employer.
Drohan "was well-liked, and he did an excellent job for us," said Harry J. Gray, former chairman and CEO of UTC.
But Drohan decided to strike out on his own, leaving UTC in 1987 and starting Tom Drohan Enterprises. From there, he spent almost two decades dealing with crises. He helped baseball star Dave Winfield fight gambling allegations and Fairfield real estate tycoon Vincent A. Roberti when he faced arson charges.
"Some people in public relations arrange picnics. Damage control is more interesting," Drohan said in a 1990 interview.
In addition to his wife, he is survived by two daughters and two grandchildren. Calling hours are scheduled for Friday and Saturday from 2 to 5 p.m. at his home, 36 Meadowood Lane, Old Saybrook.
Contact Mark Peters at mrpeters@courant.com.
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