Richard was born in the Bronx, NY, on October 4, 1948. He had a good, carefree childhood, filled with the love of his amazing mother, Arline, his dad John, and his tight knit Italian family.
He had a stint as an altar boy, roamed the streets of his neighborhood with buddies and helped around the house --especially when sisters Mary Jo, Christine and Toni Anne came into the family picture.
He attended Cardinal Spellman in the Bronx, and graduated from Eastchester High School. In 1966 he headed off to Stony Brook University, on Long Island, and graduated in 1970 with a major in Political Science, but a love and a talent for writing pulled him into journalism.During this time he worked at --and eventually became Editor in Chief of-- The Stateman, the university's student newspaper.
His professional life outside university started in 1970 as a reporter for The Observer newspaper in Northport NY, after which he returned to work at Stony Brook as part of the Public Relations department (1971 - 1975). When his first wife, Susan, enrolled in grad school at CMU, he moved to Pittsburgh where he worked on another university gig, this time as Assistant Director of Public Relations for Carnegie-Mellon University (~1975 - 1979).
His work in video production at Carnegie-Mellon gave him a taste --and a passion-- for film writing and in 1979, with a young wife and 3-month-old baby Nick in tow, he headed for Los Angeles, to pursue his dream of being a screenwriter while working as Director of Public Relations at Harvey Mudd College, in Claremont.
The quaint town of Claremont became the home where his son Nick grew from toddler to young Indian Scout to college-bound young adult; and where Susan pursued her own career in academia. He was a devoted dad, involved in all his son'ts activities -- from changing diapers, reading to and playing with baby Nick to school activities and sports: soccer, little league, and especially racketball.
In the early 80's Richard's career took another important turn when he went to work as part of the communications team for Southern Califonia Gas, where he held several management positions until he left the corporate life to start his own company, in 1998.
The 90's also heralded a new chapter in Richard's personal life: a divorce from Susan, followed by meeting, falling in love, then marrying, his second wife, Monica. Naturally inclined to adventure, Rich and Monica lived through dot-com entrepreneurship, ventured into development, and travelled to many exciting far away places for business, family visits and as tourists, a precious time of love and happiness that is forever treasured.
From 2005 on, their lives were enriched by the presence of a new generation of children: nieces Bella and Ema, nephews Martin and Samu, and two wonderful granddaughters: Aanya, born in 2010 and Surina, in 2013. His love and devotion to family stayed constant with long phone conversations with his mother, visits with sisters and frequent get-togethers with brothers-in-law.
More travel --even living abroad-- were in the plans when the unexpected happened and Richard fell ill. The onset was Innocuous enough, feeling first like a bad flu, then just persistent exhaustion that increased with time. When it was finally diagnosed, his lung cancer had already debilitated him beyond treatment options.
He died at home, peacefuly and surrounded by the people he loved.
Richard touched many lives with his humor, his generosity, his courage and his unflinching honesty. He is missed --and celebrated with gratitude-- by those who knew him.