Raised on the East Coast, Richard attended Reed College in Oregon. He worked in a teaching hospital as a conscientious objector in the late ‘60s. As Field Director of the Stroke Education Project, he facilitated study groups for health care teams in several small Oregon communities, helping them design their own programs to improve stroke care. 

A student of group dynamics, he has been influenced by whole systems thinking, David Bohm, Tavistock Group Relations, and action research. Working with groups throughout his career, he has designed and led programs for small groups and large gatherings. Richard retired after thirteen years as an organization development consultant focused on changing corporate culture. Fifty percent of that work was in oil refineries.

Across the decades, he also worked as a production potter, selling utilitarian ware at street fairs (70s), managing a data center for a regional brokerage firm (80s), and managing a team designing and building a customer service support system for a hardware manufacturer (80s). He received an MA in Management from JFK University in 1990. 

Moving to Healdsburg, California in 1999, he was actively engaged with the civic life of the community for many years. He organized a citizen discussion group (Town Meeting), served on a housing commission, supported an AIA grant (SDAT), and the formation of a community foundation affiliate. He served on the county Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee, helped found North Bay Letter Press Arts, and is on the board of the Healdsburg Housing Trust. He is a serious cyclist and dancer and can’t stop reading when he is not moving.