Rubbing Elbows with the Rich and Famous

“Rubbing Elbows with the Rich and Famous”

by John B. Anderson

During my lifetime, I have stumbled into or have had contact with some folks who were much richer or more famous that I. None of these encounters was planned, they just happened.

Ann Landers: In 1960, The Chicago Sun-Times bought the paper mill. This was a big deal for Manistique, as it brought many of the Chicago celebrities to town. Newscaster, Paul Harvey, was a guest speaker at Rotary on more than one occasion. One day, all of the Sun-Times big shots showed up. Marshall Field, Jr., owner of the Sun-Times, accompanied by an entourage, which included Ann Landers, syndicated columnist. Ann and her sister, Abagail VanBuren, were world-renown advice givers, whose columns ran daily in many newspapers. The paper mill hosted these dignitaries for dinner at the U.P.'s finest restaurant, The Surf.

I was a sous-chef at The Surf at that time. That evening, Nat, the owner of the Surf, made sure that we all had clean aprons and fresh carnations pinned to our lapels. I remember filling many celery sticks with a cream cheese mixture, dotted with paprika as a finish. After finishing the hors-d'oeuvre, I helped Ester and Beverly with the imported Japanese trout, the main entrée. After dinner, Ann Landers visited the kitchen to meet the kitchen staff. We lined up, and she asked us our names, and if we had any questions for her. She came to me. She seemed to me, at the time, to have on an awful lot of makeup, but I was not a person of the big city, so who was I to judge?

“Hi! I'm Ann Landers. Who are you?”

“I'm John Anderson, and I have a sexual problem.”

“What??”

“Just kidding.”

You know me; I always was a smart ass, (emphasis on ass).

James Stewart, Lee Remink, and Arthur O'Connell: “Anatomy of a Murder” was filmed in and around Marquette in 1959 and 1960. This was a big deal for the U.P., to have this huge production in our back yard. It was filmed here, because the author of the story was a judge from Marquette. When our band went to Marquette in the spring of 1960, many of our musicians went to the old courthouse to catch some of the screen action. I remember that Al Brown, the Bunny Bread Man, was cast as the desk clerk at the hotel in the movie.

During that time, Nat put me in charge of inventory control at “The Surf”. This meant that, each month, I had to take inventory of everything in the two walk-in freezers, the two walk-in coolers, the bar, and the dry goods inventory downstairs. Also, at this time, the Dellis's purchased two fine restaurants, “The Chalet” in Marquette and “The Knife and Fork” at the Soo.

One evening, Nat asked me to accompany him to “The Chalet” in Marquette, to set up the inventory system, and to acquaint me with the restaurant. He had appointed Tommy Dufour as the head chef at “The Chalet.” It was always fun to talk to Tommy. Nat and Tommy had other business to discuss, so I hung out at the bar. It was a slow night, and I was the only person at the bar, sipping at my Coke. The bartender asked, “Have you ever met a movie star?”

“No, of course not.”

“Would you like to meet a couple tonight?”

“I'd be too scared.”

“That's Jimmie Stewart, Lee Remink, and another star over at the far table. Go over and say 'Hello'. Everyone else does. They really don't mind.”

I screwed up my courage and walked across the dining room to their table. I can't remember what they said or what I said. I only remember looking at Lee Remink's eyes. She was the most beautiful woman that I had ever seen in my life. I stepped on my tongue at least 3 times on the way back to the bar.

Bob Dylan: One of my friends at the University of Chicago was Kevin Krown. Kevin was a folk singer promoter from New York, who had reportedly rented Canegie Hall three times by the time he was sixteen. Kevin would be on the phone to New York every morning and, likewise, to Los Angeles every evening. Kevin promoted the first folk singer festival at the university, which included Joan Baez and Pete Seeger. Our group, Progressive Insight, also promoted a debate between Captain Landau, a right-winger from Chanute Air Force Base and William Mandel, a named communist, (but that's another story).

Bobby Zimmerman was being promoted by Kevin at that time as well. Bob, a.k.a., Bob Dylan, stopped by to see Kevin on his way to the west coast. Dylan rode the rails at that point in his life, so Chicago, being the railroad hub of the whole country, made this a likely stop. We put Bob up in our dorm, Pierce Tower, while Kevin got him a couple of gigs in Chicago. When Bob stopped back in Chicago on his way east, he had a female partner. Bob thought that they should get married.

Kevin contacted a priest, who came to the dorm to perform the ceremony, but Bob changed his mind. His partner was Catholic, so Bob thought that his mom might object. We decided to party with the goods from the reception. When Bob was with us, we would skip class, and sit on the dorm steps and make up songs. One Sunday, the dorm served little bowls of carrot-raisin salad. We were pretty non-plussed by that action so we gave them to Bob. Just picture Bob Dylan with 12 bowls of carrot-raisin salad in front of him, saying, “This is good s**t, Man!”

Mohammad Ali: I had a seven-year career with Xerox Corporation, most of that with sales. When I was at the Lansing branch, I had a good year, so the company sent Sally and me to Cocoyuk, Mexico, to a fabulous resort. While at Cocoyuk, we and another couple, sneaked into Cuautla to buy some Mexican goods. We bought a large sombrero, a serape, and a 4-foot chicken pinata for the kids.

Here I was at Chicago O'Hare airport, festooned with my Mexican purchases, when I spotted this trio of big men walking toward me on the concourse. I said to myself, “I know the big guy!”

As I walked toward the three men, I held out my free hand, because I had finally recognized him. “How are you, Champ?”

It was Mohammad Ali. He shook my hand, smiled at me, and said, “You white people are really silly.”

Ken Curtis: You would probably remember Ken Curtis better as, “Chester,” of “Gunsmoke.” “Festus” was Marshall Dillon's sidekick. As I was commuting on the weekends, between Kalamazoo and Springfield, IL, I found myself sitting next to Ken Curtis on the plane to Springfield. He posed for a lot of pictures with the kids on the plane. When he got a break, I asked him for his autograph. I handed him my sick bag, and said, “Sign it on behalf of your series, “Ripcord.”

“You didn't watch that awful series, did you?”

“Sure did.” He signed the sick bag.

Vice President Rockefeller: He was Governor Rockefeller at the time that I met him. I was in Rochester, NY for duplicator training with Xerox. Although, Rochester was the headquarters of Xerox then, the training took place at nearby Webster, NY. We dozen trainees traveled by bus from the Holiday Inn in Rochester to the training center, then back to the Holiday Inn in the evening.

One evening, our bus driver was in a big hurry to drop us off at the Holiday Inn. A couple of us asked him, “Why the rush?”

He said that, after he dropped us off, he had to go to the Flagship Hotel, pick up the governor, and take him back to the Holiday Inn for a huge reception. We asked if a couple of us could stay on the bus and meet Governor Rockefeller The driver said, “If the security guys will let you stay, it's OK. With me.”

The security guys and the governor's chief of staff checked us out, and said that we could ride with the governor, (This is all pre-911). The governor got on the bus, and we all introduced ourselves. He said that our founder at Xerox, Joseph Wilson, was a good friend of his. As a matter of fact, Joe Wilson died while having lunch with Governor Rockefeller

We arrived at the Holiday Inn. We fell into line behind the governor's staff, as we shook hands with all the Republican Big-Wigs of Iroquois County. We each got a drink.

After we finished our drink, the governor's chief-of-staff said, “OK., boys. You've had your fun. It's time for you to leave.”

Just then, the Governor spotted us and said, “Are you guys having fun?”

We responded in the affirmative. The chief-of-staff asked, “What are you drinking?”

We left very soon after that.

Ed McMahon: I had just driven a U-Haul truck from Springfield, IL to Union City, MI, a 10-hour trek with a cat on my lap. I had been awake for more than 24 hours, unshaven and grubby. My buddy, Pete, from Illinois, had driven the second U-Haul truck, and I was taking him to the Kalamazoo airport to return to Springfield.

After I put Pete on the plane, I was walking out of the terminal, smack into Ed McMahon's belly. “I'm so sorry, Ed,” when I saw who it was.

He said, “Better go home and sleep it off...and next time don't drink so much.”

Hank Meijer: Very recently, Meijer was opening a new store in Traverse City. Joy and I were doing our usual shopping and the west side Meijer Grocery, when I noticed that the store was filled with “suits,” I asked one of the produce guys, “Is corporate here to check you out?”

He said, “You could say that. Hank Meijer, the owner, is here.”

Just then, I noticed that Joy has Hank Meijer cornered. He asked her if she enjoyed shopping at Meijer. She replied in the affirmative. She had no idea who he was, and was asking him where the tomato paste in the tube was. Someone was quickly dispatched to help her find the tomato paste. (They couldn't find it either).

I approached Hank to tell him that I sat with his father, Fred, at the West Michigan Health Planning Agency, many years previous. I told him that I found Fred to be a charming, gracious man.

Hank agreed, saying, “If only I could be half the man he was.”