三民網路書店Saturday, three weeks before Christmas. James Kier looked back and forth between the newspaper headline and the photograph of himself, not sure if he should laugh or call his attorney. It was the same photograph the Tribune had used a couple of years earlier when they featured him on the front page of the business section. While the photograph was the same, the headlines could not have been more different. Not many people get to read their own obituary.
LOCAL REAL ESTATE MOGUL DIES IN AUTOMOBILE CRASH
Utah real estate developer James Kier was pronounced dead after his car collided with a concrete pylon on southbound I-80. Authorities believe Kier may have had a heart attack prior to swerving off the road.
Kier was the president of the Kier Company, one of the West’s largest real estate development firms. He was known as a fierce, oftentimes ruthless businessman. He once said “If you want to make friends, join a book club. It you want to make money, go into business. Only a fool confuses the two.”
Kier is survived by his son, James Kier II, and his wife, Sara.
Kier put the paper down. He had no idea what the article was about to set in motion.
