Dolly Blodgett Spaulding tribute to Richard:"

"

The last time Richard and I talked on the phone, he called (on the
solstice, as was his habit) to tell me about his upcoming cancer
surgery, and we had our usual hour-long conversation. "

"

We were friends for 58 years, and at one point, he was

simultaneously dating me and Lucia, trying to figure out which one of
us was "the one." We both knew about it and didnt mind sharing him
too much. "

"

The details of someone elses friendship are not that interesting to

anyone but the participants, unless you are writing (or reading) a
novel, so suffice it to say that decades of myriad kinds of contact
personal, family, groups of one sort and another -- ensued. "

"

We kept in touch, visited often, nourished the relationship. One of the

unique results of this is that I have (and cherish) an entire bankers
box of letters he wrote me, most of them between 1990 and 2014. "

"

He was one-of-a-kind, someone who I feel privileged to have called

friend for more than half a century. I miss him terribly, but will always
consider myself so fortunate to have had him in my life. He was a
treasure beyond description, who I loved.