My definition of eclectic is something that is made up of various sources or styles. An example of eclectic would be a person’s taste in music who enjoys listening to country, hip hop, gospel and classical music. Eclectic is selecting a mixture of what appears to be best of various doctrines, methods or styles.
Examples might be, gift him any book you like because he has an eclectic choice in books. He loves reading just about anything. He was interested in gaining prowess in an eclectic mix of subjects. He didn’t want to stick with doing just one thing in life.
Upon first meeting Dr Kittridge Anderson, D.D.S, several years ago, the first thoughts that came to my mind was ‘Eclectic Dentist’. His stories from the dental chair were fascinating as they ranged from life in Sweden to attending university in Oregon and covered such topics as medic work to fly fishing. At that time, my mind said, this is an interesting man, I must interview him to learn more of his travels.
Dr. Kittridge Anderson and I met for an interview several months ago in his Onaway Dental Office. Initially, I was hesitant thinking to myself, “I am telling this doctor I want to interview him because I think he is eclectic.” He will think I am crazy. The interview was most interesting and entertaining. I hope you enjoy the story.
Dr. Anderson was born in Memphis, Tennessee where his father was in medical school. Interestingly, his father’s parents coming from Sweden had recently arrived in the United States where they initially settled in Hartford, Connecticut and then to Memphis.
Following medical school Kit’s father was a surgical resident at the famous Mayo Clinic, a flight surgeon at USAH, an OBGYN physician at Cornell University in NY State followed by his private practice in Honolulu. At Yale University he was a research OBGYN/surgery super specialist whose studies lead to development of the pain relief drug, Motrin.
“My career in music started early. When I was in first grade, I was in an Italian restaurant with my parents that has strolling musicians. Accordion and violin. Having just seen “The Music Man”, I requested “76 Trombones”. They actually played it and I stood up and sang along. After a round of applause, a waitress asked me if I would sing “Happy Birthday”. The band and I followed her to a booth. She pointed to a gentleman in the corner and said, “sing Happy Birthday to Groucho”. Yep. That’s Groucho!
He smiled and said, “Good job, kid”. My career peaked early and I have been on a downhill slide ever since,” stated a smiling Kit Anderson.
By the time Kit reached 7th grade he had lived in six different states. The family having moved around for his father’s career. His mother was (of English /Scottish descent and had a grandfather who owned a hotel in Niles, Michigan) from Muncie Indiana and related to the Ball Canning family. They thought they were related to Martha Ball Washington. It turned out they were related to the Virginia Ball family and first cousin, 7 times removed from George Washington.
Kit grew up with two brothers and one sister. One of his brothers is the Chief Operating Officer at Fifth Third bank and the other is an environmental engineer. His sister is a medical doctor in Connecticut.
In their middle years, Kit’s parents moved to Saudi Arabia with ARAMCO oil company where his father was head of the OBGYN unit. After ten years in Saudi Arabia, they were vested and retired to the state of Maine.
After having spent a year in Manitoba attending an Outward-Bound boarding school Kit resumed 9th grade followed by prep school at Hopkins Grammar School in New Haven, Connecticut. Like many young men after graduating from high school, Kit found himself not knowing what he wanted to do in life, so he joined the Navy where he trained in Boston to be a Hospital Corpsman. He worked the emergency room at the base until it closed and then spent two years, as a hospital medic.
A close cousin was attending Northern Michigan University (NMU) in Marquette, Michigan who described NMU as a great party school with lots of good-looking women. It wasn’t long before Kit was off to NMU where he met his wife, Janel, a professional musician simultaneously enrolled in the Music program at NMU. Together they attended school and earned money by singing and playing music in and around Marquette for two years. The yearn for playing more music and finishing up their undergraduate education took them to the state of Oregon. The next stop took was Austin, Texas where Janell, an accomplished musician playing guitar, piano, playwriting and folk singer sang with Stevie Ray Vaughan, Johnny Lee, and Jerry Jeff Walker.
Stephen “Stevie” Ray Vaughan (October 3, 1954 – August 27, 1990) was an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer, best known as a guitarist. Although his mainstream career only spanned seven years, he is considered to be one of the most iconic and influential musicians in the history of blues music. On August 27, 1990, Vaughan and four others were killed in a helicopter crash in East Troy, Wisconsin after performing with at Alpine Valley Music Theatre.
Johnny Lee (born John Lee Ham; July 3, 1946) is an American country music singer. Lee worked 10 years with Mickey Gilley both on tour and at Gilley’s Club in Pasadena, Texas.
The soundtrack from the 1980 hit movie Urban Cowboy, which was largely shot at Gilley’s, catapulted Lee to fame. The record spawned several hit singles, including Lee’s “Lookin’ for Love.”
In Austin, Kit and Janell formed a band and played music to the weekends in order to finance dental school for Kit. They were fortunate as they were not only on tour but often were on the playlist for opening acts, such as: “Jerry Jeff Walker” an American country music singer and songwriter. He is best known for writing “Mr. Bojangles”. And, other such musical groups; “Joe Ely”; “NRBQ”; “Jonathan Edwards”. And “Ashes & Wheels”.
After 6 nights a week on the road, the message was getting through it was time to settle down after dental school. Their first place to land was Maine, where Kit practiced dentistry for eleven years. During this time, he learned to fly fish. He loved it, often taking fly fishing trips to Idaho, South Carolina, Montana, and Florida. They even took up downhill skiing where Kit was on the ski patrol at several ski resorts on the east coast. When they moved to Michigan to be closer to Janell’s family, who reside in the upper peninsula, the downhill skis got swapped for cross-country skis.
“The hardest part of being a dentist is there are no controls, but it is satisfying to help people improve their lives, health, and appearance. I particularly like to do implants as they are both challenging and amazing. I am fortunate, my practice is successful because I make sure my employees are happy and taken care of, as exemplified in the longevity of each employee. We always have an annual Christmas party for all our staff. And I provide each employee with a monthly trip to the hairdresser or for a massage. It is frequently these little niceties’ that make your employees feel appreciated,” commented Dr. Anderson as I questioned him on his Profession.
Life deals all of us, good and bad bumps in the road. Several years ago, Kit was diagnosed with ‘spasmatic dysphonia.’ This is the same disease Diane Rheim on National Public Radio (NPR) has, which is a vocal condition where the nerves tighten up the vocal cords in mid-day.
For 8 years, Kit served as President of the American Dental Association. For twelve years, he has been president of the area Dental Association which meets monthly in Indian River. His own dental research is now focused on airway development.
His final words to me were, “Judith, I don’t have a job. I have a profession”.
One of Kit’s most notorious claims to fame was his ‘Bad Attitude Chili’ recipe he concocted in his college years while in the state of Texas. The Chili recipe, which is a mix of Tai/Korean and Texas chilies, went viral appearing in the Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, and Beer Magazines. You can go to the following web site to download the recipe: http://chile.netrelief.com/recipes/bad_attitude_chili_recipe.shtml
Editor’s Note: I want to thank Dr. Anderson for sharing his time and life with me as I write this story. Some of Kit’s escapades are almost too challenging to put in print. In addition, I would like to congratulate Janel Anderson on the creation of her latest album. According to Kit, “The CD is being printed and will be here next week. Spotify, iTunes, Amazon and other places will have it for download and streaming soon.
by Judith A. Grenkowicz, May 26, 2020
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