The transcript from my speech at Richard's memorial at the Center for the Arts

For those of us who knew Richard, we know that underneath a somewhat stoic exterior, he was a passionate man.  Two of the driving passions in his life were theatre and education.

He spent the majority of his adult life working in theatre, predominately behind the scenes. He got his bachelor’s degree in theatre from the Catholic University of America. His first job out of college was working in the box office at the Annenburg Center for the Performing Arts at the University of Pennsylvania.

From Penn he moved on to be the business manager at a small theatre company in Smithfield, NJ. We visited there last October. There was an open field where the theatre used to be. Those of us of a certain age understand that things change. 

And from Smithfield he went to the Great Lakes Shakespeare Festival in Cleveland. Yes, the town with the burning river. That Cleveland. 

Eventually, he decided he needed a change. Working the business side of the industry wasn’t doing it for him anymore. He spent some time working in retail and even owned a restaurant. Fool. 

He decided to return to CUA and get his masters degree. Catholic scooped him up and he taught there for the next 6 years. The culture at Catholic U. became too conservative for him. There was an ugly brouhaha about a production of Angels in America. He met me. He moved to Hood River. 

It’s 1998. There are no teaching jobs, on the college level, in the Gorge. That didn't stop Richard. He made one for himself. He taught at CGCC for nearly a decade, establishing a Theatre Arts department. 

He loved his time with CAST. Four productions that stand out for me were Side by Side by Sondheim. He loved singing with friends. Wit, he was so proud of the production and Mary Fassel’s performance, the Cherry Orchard (okay, maybe that was my favorite… he let me work on the set,) and Assassins – once again singing with friends. 

I am proud to announce that the Columbia Center for the Arts and the Hood River Rotary Club have named their annual theatre scholarship in his name. The scholarship is for high school students from the Gorge who plan to major in theatre in college.It is the greatest honor he could receive. Richard was on the committee that chose the winner for many years. I know he is proud. 

I would say we should all raise our glasses of champagne in his honor, but the center doesn’t allow champagne in the theatre, and frankly, I’m not sure that is the greatest way to remember Richard. Let’s all just remember a good man and his love of education, theatre and the Gorge. 

Richard, I love you now and I always will!

It isn't exactly how it came out, but it is what was on paper!