Author, Poet & Artist
Anita was born in Brookline, Massachusetts on April 22, 1924, to Theodore Grosvenor and Anita Strawbridge Grosvenor.
She was married to Thomas B. McAndrews of Indianapolis, Indiana, and in 1955 moved to the Republic of Panama where her husband had secured a position at the Naval Hydrographics Office. He later became a Panama Canal Pilot.
Anita lived in the Republic of Panama for over 30 years, raising a family while pursuing a career as a journalist, writer, poet, and artist. The Latin American tapestry of diversity, religion, history and culture was colorfully woven into her writings and paintings.
She also had a morning radio program called Breakfast With Anita with the purpose of enhancing communication and understanding between the Panama Canal Zone residents and the Panamanians. She interviewed prominent artists, politicians, and leaders of the community as well as some international celebrities.
Anita was a member of American Pen Women International.
She exhibited her artwork in various galleries throughout Panama City, Panama. Later in life, she was a member of The Spring Bull Gallery and the DeBlois Gallery of Newport, Rhode Island, flourishing in an eclectic environment of contemporary paintings and sculptures.
Anita passed away in Newport, Rhode Island on October 15, 2005.
Poetry Contest 2022
The 2022 Anita McAndrews Poets for Human Rights Poetry Contest
Following is the reading of 1st, 2nd, snd 3rd place winning poems.
Newly Published Work
Marco's Gift
A bittersweet yet gentle love story set in Taboga, the Island of the Flowers, from where the Spaniard Francisco Pizarro sailed to the conquest of Peru and Paul Gauguin spent time when working on the French attempt to build the Panama Canal.
This highly charged romantic novel takes place on Taboga Island in the Bay of Panama. It is an island caught up in its past, suffering from poverty and superstition, owned by a nation oppressed by both church and state. The local island leader, Marco Rodriguez, is an enigmatic man, a teacher who cares deeply for his people's welfare. Though he has no official title, the islanders know him as the Devil Man, a figure from Panamanian legend. A third generation Devil Man, Marco inherited his Stone from his father. Accepting the Stone, he has made a pact with the Devil. He carried the Stone, a religious artifact, embedded in his arm. US University educated, Marco is torn by the opposing worlds, one steeped in religious superstition, and the other riddled with immediate social, political and economic problems. He is secretly uncertain of the alleged power of his Stone. But who would he be without it? This is Marco's terror.
Conquistador's Lady
"In the rough outskirts of Antigua, Guatemala, among the misted mountains and vlcanoes, there is a carved stone that marks the castle of Dona Beatriz, first elected woman governor in the Americas, and wife of Don Pedro Alvarado, Spanish Conquistador and Governor General of Guatemala. If that stone could speak, it would echo in the valley the legend fo La Sin Ventura, the Conquistador's Lady"
The Photograph Upstairs
"A haunting romance blending the glitter and glamor or the Gilded Age with a 20th century love story. The story is set in Newport, Rhode Island, home of those mansions called, in their time, summer cottages. Two women, Minnie Prescott, once mistress of the great house, Prescott Hall, and Anne Wellstone, her great-great-great niece, join hands across a century."
