Sherwood Stockwell

Stealing Santa Rita Sherwood Stockwell

Our culture produces many whose goals are to create new jobs, increased profits and growth that will benefit humanity. Some, like Peter Oliver Sessions, subvert those goals, overlooking moral and ethical truths. His march to success, driven by ambition and misguided religious convictions, turns into a selfish quest for personal reward. He first uses Santa Rita as a refuge from doting parents, the Vietnam War and then to escape possible jailing for questionable stock transactions. For centuries this quiet Mexican fishing village was isolated from the outside world. When young surfers were attracted by the great waves washing into its bay, "Pedro" Sessions follows their lead. Sessions spent his war years looking for the next best waves and exploiting a tribe of Huichol Indians in order to support his lifestyle. When Jimmy Carter pardoned those that fled military service, Pedro returned to California and, after a cram course in business administration, became a broker of IPO's and mutual funds. Faced with possible indictment for illegal trading, Pedro returned to Santa Rita with a new wife, Isabella Eugenia, and a limited knowledge of real estate development. His first effort created the boutique hotel, Casa de Mastil, whose popularity with tourists soon led to investment in the project by Gringos from North America. Despite the detractions of a murder, lawsuits from angry purchasers, and adverse public opinion, Pedro continued to expand the hotel until a victim of his unscrupulous deals, Enid Williams, rallied the community to bring down his would-be empire. In the process Enid found self-esteem after a lifetime of personal setbacks.