Confronting the Pitchford Curse

Fortunes come and fortunes go. "Not if I can help it!" Beverly P. Miller swore. I worked tirelessly with the love of my life, Jack, to become a successful woman in business and built my fortune in real estate land development in spite of women's business oppression in the '60s and '70s. I wasn't leaving my fortune to chance or to the greed of my father's family. Greed overtook them and killed their drive to be successful or maintain the fortune they had. I would not let them pull me down into their mire! My business acumen learned through successes in West Palm Beach and Washington, DC allowed me to be the force that confronted every roadblock and rebuild the Pitchford name and status in Jensen Beach, Florida. Jack and I had experienced years of adventure, building our family fortune and loving each other and our girls. Retirement was not the time to lose everything. I honored my father and his wishes for me, but not at the expense of my family. His belief in me and time training me on how business works made me the woman I am. But he did not honor his own beliefs in his life. His indiscretions made me ashamed of him and caused me to lose respect for him for years. His death forced me to face the fact that no one is perfect, not even him, and forgive him for all those times I didn't understand his choices.

The Pitchford family became wealthy and influential in Jensen Beach, Florida in the 1860's. Their family businesses grew from pineapple farming to RV campsites, apartments, restaurants, fishing industry and many other small endeavors after the Great Depression. Their fortune and reputation was destroyed by a curse that invaded the family until the 2000s, when the daughter of the most successful Pitchford took over the dynasty and used her real estate expertise to bring part of the fortune back. Beverly P. Miller adored her father and wanted to be just like him. He taught her how to solve problems, develop a business and be self-sufficient. When he disappointed her with his decisions of unlawful business practice and infidelity, she continued on her path of success and became a wealthy real estate broker. She and the love of her life, Jack, had a whirlwind life and lived in Washington, DC and West Palm Beach where she made many real estate deals. Eventually she was called back to Jensen Beach to face the curse that ruled the lives of all the Pitchford men.

Loraine Haynie grew up in Atlanta, Georgia, spent career years in Gainesville, Georgia, and retired to Hoschton, Georgia. She is a Southern girl, enjoying her retirement writing Southern novels. Her goal is to honor God by writing cozy-reading stories about love and redemption . This memoir/biography is her third book which focuses on the human frailty of 'greed' and how that affliction ruins a family's good name and depletes their fortune, until a success-driven granddaughter takes over and restores everything once lost. Loraine and her husband live in an active-adult community, participate in a supportive church, and spend time with their three children, their spouses, and seven wonderful grandchildren.