Dr. Lendon Smith: Oregonian Obituary
Daddy
LENDON SMITH 1921-2001
11/19/01
SCOTT LEARN
Dr. Lendon Smith, the Portland pediatrician and author whose amiable
wit and often unorthodox advice on childhood nutrition landed him on
"The Tonight Show" with Johnny Carson more than 60 times, died
Saturday morning in Portland of complications from heart surgery. He
was 80.
In his last month, Smith traveled to Florida, Seattle and Sacramento,
Calif., to deliver talks on medicine and nutrition, which he thought
largely determines health. His family said the busy schedule was
characteristic of the author of 14 medical advice books.
Smith's main TV presence, "The Children's Doctor," debuted in
five-minute segments on Portland's KGW-TV and enjoyed a national run
from 1967 to 1969. The show and Smith's writings irritated many in the
medical establishment, who thought Smith was pushing personal views
instead of scientifically established theories. Among other stances,
he advocated megadoses of vitamins and was an early advocate of
limiting milk and sugar in children's diets.
But Smith's down-to-earth style was a hit with homemakers, if a 1967
"Hostess House" column in The Oregonian had it right: "Mothers nearly
break a leg getting their work done to be in front of the set when he
comes on," it said.
Smith, nicknamed "Dunny," said his goal was to present "cheerful
information." One 1968 article called him the nation's second
best-known pediatrician, after Dr. Benjamin Spock.
"Dunny was a tall, slim, very verbal, very funny, very entertaining
and very charming, caring guy," said Bill Montgomery, a friend and
former television executive. "He was always on the cutting edge of
thinking of the alternatives or pushing it beyond the conventional
program."
Smith began phasing out his active pediatric practice in the late
1960s. His worst public trouble came in 1973, when the Oregon State
Board of Medical Examiners revoked his privilege to prescribe
addictive drugs because he gave Ritalin to drug users.
Tracy Smith, the oldest of Lendon and Julie Smith's five children,
said the suspension helped prompt her father to turn away from
traditional medicine and toward holistic and alternative approaches,
including acupuncture and chiropractic. He eventually became an
opponent of using Ritalin to treat hyperactive children.
"Some people thought he was too out there, but he just thought every
avenue should be open to exploration," said Tracy Smith, 51. "There
was no bad theory. They should all be examined."
Lendon Smith was born in Portland on June 3, 1921. His father, Dr. L.
Howard Smith, was also a pediatrician.
Smith went to Benson High School, an all-boys polytechnic school,
joining the cheerleading squad. In the 1940s, he graduated from Reed
College, where he minored in acting, and the University of Oregon
Medical School. He was an intern at Minneapolis General Hospital and
did his residency at St. Louis Children's Hospital and Doernbecher
Children's Hospital in Portland. He married Julie Starheim, a nurse,
in 1948. She died in 1999.
Smith started his TV career by filling in one day at KGW when a guest
didn't show up for a morning talk show. He soon had his own television
show, "The Children's Doctor," which was syndicated nationally. In
1969, he wrote his first book of the same title, and was soon in
demand for TV and radio appearances across the country.
Besides "The Tonight Show," Smith's talk-show stints included
appearances with Merv Griffin, Dinah Shore, Phil Donahue and Dick
Cavett.
In a far more buttoned-down time, Lendon Smith talked about anything
from pinworms and constipation to hyperactivity, allergies and anemia.
He stunned the dairy industry by suggesting milk wasn't always perfect
food for babies.
Smith advocated removing all forms of sugar, white flour and most
processed foods from a hyperactive child's diet, giving megadoses of
vitamins and minerals instead. In general, he advocated nutritional
and megavitamin therapy for everything from dandruff and backache to
hyperactivity.
"We are what we eat," he said in 1984. "From colic to allergy to
hyperactivity to schizophrenia and alcoholism, a variety of physical
and behavior problems can often be traced to faulty nutrition. . . .
Our body tries to tell us these things, but we don't listen."
In a 1980s article titled "Lendon Smith Strikes Again," the University
of California Cooperative Extension publication "Nutrition
Perspectives" called Smith one of the "primary purveyors of nutrition
misinformation," and warned that some of the vitamin doses he
recommended could be dangerous.
Over the years, Smith increasingly allied himself with naturopaths,
homeopaths and chiropractors, becoming the first medical doctor
appointed to the board of the Portland-based National College of
Naturopathic Medicine.
His credits include two Emmy Award-winning television specials, "My
Mom's Having a Baby" and "Where Do Teen-agers Come From."
"Feed Your Kids Right," published in 1979, has sold more than 100,000
copies.
Smith is survived by his brother, David Smith of Tucson, Ariz.; two
daughters, Tracy Smith and Nancy Hoffman; and two sons, Eric and Tim;
nine grandchildren; and one great grandchild. A third son, Duncan
Smith, died in 1991. He donated most of his estate to the Rosemont
School for girls, the family said. The family plans private services
next weekend.
In 1968, Smith described an ideally disciplined child. He could have
been describing himself.
"You want the child to be able to rebel against society and the
establishment, but not enough to get into trouble," he said. "Just
enough to be, say, a courteous rebel." You can reach Scott Learn at
503-221-8564 or by e-mail at scott...@news.oregonian.com.
ypame...@gmail.com
col...@gmail.com
Of a physical attack I was virtually immobilized. I saw him on TV discussing illness and treatments and I immediately made a chiropractic appointment. The Dr said he was surprised that the standing X-ray indicated severe trauma to all areas of my skeleton.
I had twice weekly treatments and felt like I was walking on Air. I subsequently became a nutritionist.
I owe him for being able to live a normal
Life, and continue treatments to this day.
Colette Fleming
Halifax, Canada