Tragedy and Triumph
By Joanne Paulson

LuAn Mitchell, as the subtitle of her new book says, has indeed lived her life in the headlines.

Some have been more flattering than others.

The young Saskatoon beauty queen was the subject of wide speculation when she became engaged to Fred Mitchell, president of Intercontinental Packers, in the mid-1980s. The couple was sharply illuminated in the Saskatoon limelight when Fred Mitchell, who was dying of cystic fibrosis, had a double lung-heart transplant in 1990 - and survived.

He became something of an evangelist after the traumatic experience, and spoke to business groups about his new relationship with God. There were often photos of him with his young wife by his side.

Then a different kind of turmoil hit the family. In 1995, Mitchell stepped down as president and CEO of what is now called Mitchell's Gourmet Foods, and in 1996, filed two suits against the rest of his family - brother Chip, sister Camille and his mother, Johanna.

The feud was played out on television sets and on newspaper pages not just in Saskatchewan, but in the national media. The headlines were legion. "Mitchell legal battle escalates" and "Family Feud" are just two examples.

Finally, the two sides settled, and Fred Mitchell returned to the helm at Mitchell's Gourmet Foods with new financial backers behind him.

But his health was failing, fast. In 1998, just two years later, he died, leaving LuAn with his company shares and, as she says, "the vultures circling."

Meat packing companies were lining up to make her offers. She refused them. She took over as chair of the board, named Stu Irvine as president, formed an alliance with Schneider Corp., and soon was recognized by Chatelaine and Profit magazines as Canada's top woman entrepreneur. The headlines were congratulatory.

Eventually, she sold her remaining 25 per cent of the company to Schneider’s, and married Dr. Reese Halter in late 2002.

Now, Mitchell-Halter is making new headlines, as she launches her new book Paper Doll: Lessons Learned From a Life Lived in the Headlines.

It doubles as a biography and motivational book, with Mitchell-Halter describing throughout how she dealt with adversity.

There are also a few revelations. Mitchell-Halter admits she had a child while she was attending E.D. Feehan high school, for instance, and eventually had to give her up for adoption.

In an interview from Palm Springs, Mitchell-Halter described the book this way.

"We can't live somebody else's life. As a mom, I often say to the kids, I can't think for you or speak for you, so tell me what you're thinking.

"It's kind of a tell me what you're thinking, tell me what it was like for you, book. At the same time there were a lot of lessons along the way."

After turning down offers from Stoddard Publishing and Key Porter Books, Mitchell-Halter eventually decided to have her book published by Jodere Group of San Diego.

Mitchell-Halter says Key Porter wanted an additional 15,000 words about the feud. She refused.

"That was never my focus," she said. "All I know about the feud is as Fred's wife, what I felt on the home front. I was a stay at home mom, I was not employed, I did not work for the company then, I owned no shares of the company...I was married to Fred Mitchell. That was Fred and his family...I had no ownership stake or anything in it. What I (knew) was what Fred told me when he got home."

Mitchell-Halter says she wanted the book to be more about helping people than rehashing that history, and Jodere was willing to go along with her version, she said.

She says she has always enjoyed writing, and was studying it before she met Fred Mitchell. That along with numerous requests from people to write a book, convinced her she had to do it.

"I spoke at an international convention for women in Orange County, California, and I addressed close to 7,000 women," she said.

"When I did that, I had a standing ovation and I kid you not, for well over four minutes. Not because I'm so smart or so educated or so out there. I just tell it like it is, and how I think maybe I can address an audience and maybe help someone else...

"I was the kick-off speaker. After me was Wynonna Judd. And then after that it was Jennifer O'Neill (the actor from Summer of 43). Wynonna Judd and Jennifer O'Neill each had a book. They set up a table for the three of us. Profit Magazine sent an article, because I didn't have a book to sign...(but) all the magazines were stopped at the border.

"So they were photocopying pictures of me and I was signing them for people. After an hour and a half at my table, I still had people lined up, people saying LuAn, you really helped me by thinking about this.

"I said, well here's me, the little girl from Saskatchewan, sitting at a table beside Wynonna Judd and Jennifer O'Neill. Their line-ups went down at the 15-minute mark. I still had a line-up for an hour and a half.

"The organizers of this convention said LuAn, you must do a book. All the ladies at the convention and there were a few gentlemen, said where's your book, where's your book? I said wow, you know what, I really feel I should write a book. I really do."

In the book, and in interviews, she now speaks candidly about her early pregnancy. The circumstances were not pleasant.

"I had to leave (high school) because I felt ashamed and I didn't want my classmates to know. I really felt ashamed, I felt like I had been sucker-played. It was like a date rape, and you know, that really sucked.

"I now have three other kids. I often sit with my son Freddie, he's 15, and his friends. His buddies come over...and they're like oh crap, it's his mom, she's going to give us another one of these talks.

"(I tell them) I know how old you are, I was there once, and guys, you've got to protect these girls. Freddie has a sister. She's 25 years old. I feel really sad that my kids don't all know each other.

"I'm happy I ran into her. She's a beautiful young lady. She worked at the plant; she worked for us for a while. Fred embraced her like his own daughter...Fred loved her. In fact when Fred passed away he left a provision for her in his will.

"Fred loved her as his own."

Today, Mitchell-Halter is best known for her motivational speeches and her affiliation with the Leading Women Entrepreneurs of the World. She also received the McGill Management Achievement Award from McGill University.

From today, she may be better know as an author. Paper Doll was officially launched on the TV program Hour of Power, but there will be other launchings, including one in Saskatoon at McNally Robinson on March 5.

She says her advice is simple: listen to your gut, go with your instincts, find "the seed for good" in every action.

After years of adversity, she says she is now happy and feels blessed.

"I loved Fred. And my husband now knows there will always be a part of my heart that loves Fred Mitchell. But you know, I've been one of the most blessed women.

"I've been so beautifully given the blessing of three healthy, beautiful children, the opportunity to have two men in my life that are significant in building the woman I am, but also in being happy in being a whole person just by myself."