CASEY GAUNTT

Casey was born in 1950 in Long Beach California and spent his elementary and high school years in suburban Chicago.  He attended the University of Southern California as a Trustee Scholar earning degrees in business and law. Casey retired in 2018 from 43 years of practicing corporate and real estate law in San Diego.

In 1970 his father died by suicide when Casey was 20 years old. In 2008, Casey’s 24-year-old son, Jimmy, a rising star and professional writer, was accidentally struck and killed by a car walking home from a party. 

Three months later, Casey was reconnected with his father and son by means that can only be described as miraculous. He wrote and shared that story, The Letter, (later made into an award-winning film by Steve Date), and thus began his second, and most rewarding, career as an author, grief advisor and community organizer in the world of grief and healing. 

In 2011, Casey launched his website WRITE ME SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL to share that story and the many other mind-expanding synchronicities and connections on both sides of the veil that have followed.

Casey co-founded in 2013 a group of fathers in San Diego who have lost children.  They call themselves the “Fraternity,” have grown to over 25 brothers and meet regularly.

Casey and Jimmy published their first book Suffering Is the Only Honest Work in 2015.   Jimmy contributed much of what is in the book, including its title, and more than earned posthumous credit as the book’s co-author. 

When the Veil Comes Down was released on Amazon in March of 2021.   Casey likes to say “Our first book was ABOUT Jimmy and my father, and the second is BECAUSE of everything Jimmy, Dad and so many others have shown and taught us.”

The Gauntt-Case Clans came out on Amazon in December of 2021, and is a compilation of stories Casey has written about his family and, in particular, some of its noteworthy characters. This book also focuses on the healing power of exploring and sharing family history after suffering the loss of someone we deeply love. 

Casey’s latest book, Harvey Slocum: Best Dam Man in the World, is the first biography of the man who built 18 of the biggest dams in the world including, Grand Coulee, Friant, Exchequer, Bull Shoals, and Bhakra Dam in northern India. 

Casey and Hilary, his wife and best friend of over 50 years, live in Solana Beach, California.  Their daughter, Brittany, son-in-law, Ryan, and three grandchildren live close by.  

JAMES TEDROW “JIMMY” GAUNTT (1983-2008)

Jimmy grew up in Solana Beach, California and graduated Torrey Pines High School in 2002 with a 4.65 GPA. He was senior class president, played four years of football, three years of track & field, and was voted by his peers to be both Homecoming Prince and recipient of the "nicest guy" award. He was an AP scholar, a Boys State finalist, National Honors Society member, recipient of the Dartmouth Book Award, the Golden Falcon Award, and the prestigious Trustee Scholarship to the University of Southern California. 

Jimmy graduated Phi Beta Kappa from USC in 2006, spending a summer studying in Madrid and his senior year in London at Queens College. He was a member of the SAE Fraternity. While fluent since the sixth grade in Spanish, his minor at USC, Jimmy majored in English Literature. He was a prolific reader. Inspired by Shakespeare, D.H. Lawrence and James Joyce, among countless others, Jimmy's ineffable talent as a writer was only outmatched by his intense desire to create. 

Upon the very day of his tragic death in August of 2008 at the age of 24, when he was accidentally struck by a motorist while a pedestrian, Jimmy had just completed his fourth screenplay titled "Now's the Time." As well as screenplays, Jimmy had a passion for the theatre, both as an actor and in penning 3 plays, two of which were produced and staged. For the play he wrote that was performed by members of the USC theatre department, Jimmy saw fit that a tenor saxophone play in the orchestra to represent the unconscious of its central character, as Jimmy had more than 8 years of saxophone training and experience himself. 

Every friend, acquaintance and family member understood no greater truth than this: Jimmy cared so much, so sincerely. Forever beaming with the greatest smile, forever full of joy, forever ready to help others find and hold fast to happiness, forever young. Jimmy Gauntt was an artist. 

Upon his death, the James T. Gauntt Memorial Fund was established at Torrey Pines High School.   Over $110,000 of scholarships have been awarded to graduating seniors with financial need to pursue collegiate studies in the arts and literature. 

In 2009 the USC Department of English created the Jimmy Gauntt Memorial Award to recognize outstanding seniors who majored in English and Creative Writing.  Since its inception, 85 “Jimmies” have been awarded by the Department. The award is the first of its kind at USC. The Jimmy Gauntt Memorial Award (thejimmyaward.com)