In Reply to: Re: Raising the Ghost: James Agee on Witchcraft posted by crucible buster on February 10, 2004 at 13:11:12:
From the early days, there were at least two girls that I know of that had the chance to be in Maria's shoes, but apparently turned down Berg's requirements for the position. (I put this together from what I heard from the two girls without knowing the details at the time, 1970, until reading things on these boards to realize why they didn't get that special position.)
When I later read about how Maria had affections towards Jethro and then realized she could have the top dog, it made sense. Maria was power hungry just as berg was. They were two peas in a pod. Or more like two toxins in a tank..
Berg definitely manipulated people in the family and Maria was quite good at manipulating too.