I met my friend Clarice when we both attended California State University, Long Beach, in the early 90s. I was working on my Master’s in English Literature with Creative Writing Emphasis, and we were both connected to an erudite group called the Thursday Poets, a group of poets who met first to read poetry to one another on Thursday nights, and to later adjourn to a local bar called The Reno Room for more dastardly fun, where we hobnobbed with our professors who were at the time “Bukowski-adjacent.” Heady times, for sure.
By the time I was writing my poetry thesis, my then-husband Mike and I got an opportunity to move to a hippie shack in the redwoods in Comptche to turn it into a retirement home for his mom and step-dad, who owned it. We had no running water there, no electricity, no phone, and only an outhouse far down the hill that we had to politely share with the numerous shivery daddy longlegs arachnids that occupied it. We had a few friends who braved the 500 plus mile trip from LA, and Clarice, with two fellow poets from our tribe, was one of them. We all enjoyed our time visiting in the woods, a favorite pastime being to climb up on the roof of the cabin and stargaze, and the rite of passage staying at that house was to use the outdoor cold water can shower on the front porch. Those were freer times, for sure. Ah, youth!
Soon after that visit, Clarice moved to Paris, and after that, I birthed our son Kodiak in a different cabin in Comptche. Life changed and social media didn’t exist yet. Clarice and I lost touch. I eventually moved back to the LA area to raise my two kids, and Clarice, unbeknownst to me, returned from Europe to work at our alma mater, CSULB. We were living near one another, but never knew it.
Fast forward and in the mid-20-teens, Clarice and I discovered each other on Facebook through friends we had known in our college years. We reconnected, but even though we were close in proximity, never saw one another in person. I moved back to Mendocino County in 2019 and it was then that Clarice drove up from LA to visit me at my off-grid place in Philo that we call Dragonwood.
During her visit, Clarice and I became closer friends. We enjoyed our time together sightseeing, having lovely meals out, and sitting on the front porch in the evenings chatting and having deep discussions as we attempted to unravel some of the mysteries of life together.
Clarice and I talk every day online and have become one another’s “ride or die” type of friends — I stay with her when I visit the LA area, she visits here in Philo during the summers as a seasonal resident of sorts. We have met many places in between, from San Luis Obispo, Taft, Bakersfield, and Long Beach. One bonus of becoming so close with Clarice was becoming friendly with her parents. They are a lovely couple and have welcomed me into their home on more than one occasion. So when Clarice mentioned that her dad George was selling his business, Clarice and I decided to write an article about him. While both Clarice and I are writers, this is the first time we have collaborated on a project. We did it because we both think George is one interesting man. So that’s the back history about Clarice and I, and here’s the article we wrote together:
The Man, The Mystery: Dr. George Ross
by Cat Spydell & Clarice Ross
In January last year, you would have found him at the ski resort in Mammoth Mountain, hitting the slopes in a blizzard. This year, he is currently visiting Hawaii to scuba dive. Next summer, the Galapagos Islands.
Is this mystery man some James Bond type traveler of the world, hitting the slopes and sea and visiting remote islands in his quest to find a personal nirvana? No, he is, in fact, Dr. George G. Ross, a veterinarian from Taft, California, and he is celebrating his 88th birthday today.
He is a true California native, born in Salinas, while he grew up on the Central Coast in Morro Bay and San Luis Obispo, graduating from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo with a degree in animal husbandry, followed by Washington State University Veterinary School. He also has a Master’s degree in Nutrition. His love of animals led him to a profession of caring for them, and he has been influential in the community of Taft for his precise and thoughtful ways of helping residents’ pets in Kern County.
He married his wife, Joetta ‘Joey’ Ross in 1968. Between them they have five children, ten grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren. They also have many nearby relatives and friends, and they live a full and busy life.
George and Joey live in Taft, where for the past 57 years George has owned and run the animal clinic, Taft Veterinary Hospital. George is well-known in Taft, and when he’s not busy at the office, he can be found not only on the slopes or in the sea, but also hiking or riding his bike, bird watching, visiting the Carrizo Plains, or just enjoying the little things in life. He has served as an active member of the Kern County Search and Rescue for over fifty years. Many years ago, he donated a 3D printer to the WSU Veterinary School, and they made some innovations in veterinary medicine due to his donation, and the subsequent research it made possible.
George has made a big decision recently, to sell his Taft Veterinary Hospital practice. And while he has been discussing it for a while, 2025 may be the year it becomes a reality.
Taft is a small town located in the southwest tip of the San Joaquin Valley. Nestled in the hills, it is the high desert, yet only 30 minutes away from Bakersfield. Many people still make the trip from Bakersfield to Taft to get appointments with Dr. Ross, the beloved small-town veterinarian. Taft is a two-hour drive away from Los Angeles or San Luis Obispo. While a single drive to Mammoth Mountain is possible, the Rosses generally stay a night in Bishop before climbing the mountain to their favorite Mammoth ski resort in the morning.
George’s lifestyle is definitely enviable. He enjoys a busy practice throughout the week, and his weekends are spent in various locales throughout the state, the country, and the world. George designed and built his own veterinary hospital in about 1980, after visiting a great number of friends’ vet hospitals across the state. It is thoughtfully well-designed for the comfort of the clients, and the pets. There are a lot of advantages to owning an entire veterinary hospital as a business, as opposed to working for a corporation as an employee.
George never seemed to see a reason to retire earlier. Being in extremely good health and sound mind, George just kept working while many of his friends around him did retire; although he is also the kind of person who has friends of all ages, which may be one of his secrets to remaining spry. George has used his lifelong love of nutrition to develop a healthy diet, as well as following a regimen of supplements, to stay so healthy.
So here’s to George, a very interesting man!
Authors’ Note: If you are interested in owning your own business as a veterinarian, or know someone who is interested, this opportunity may be the right fit for you. As George approaches his nineties, he is very proud of his legacy in the town of Taft, and his practice. He is simply looking for someone to carry on and, very likely, grow the already-bustling business, being run on IDEXX’s Cornerstone. There is a large amount of equipment in the hospital, so it would be easy in that sense to be up and running from day one. Contact the Taft Veterinary Hospital for more details!
I am so happy to see this article in print. I am so proud of my dad for all of his accomplishments. Thank you to Cat Spydell for making this happen!