I first met Richard in 1976 when I moved from Chicago to Santa Barbara to become the Art Director of Skeptic, “The Magazine of Opposing Views”. Richard was the Senior Editor and it didn’t take long for the two of us to become great friends. Both being bachelors in our early 30s and full of energy, we were also extremely competitive and loved testing our abilities by playing one-on-one basketball, pickup b-ball games in the school yards of Goleta and riding bikes in the “Riviera” hills of SB. Overall, I’d say we were pretty evenly matched except when it came to riding bicycles. Those memorable rides in the Riviera hills were really me struggling to keep up and Richard quickly pulling away with each stroke of his pedals. Still, the hills were beautiful and those views of SB were in deed very memorable.
We also liked to party and together we planned and hosted a number of parties at Richard’s SB apartment. One of the most memorable was our Quiche & Wine party where Richard wrote and I designed invitations for the event. The invitations were a lot of fun too as they included photos of the two of us dressed in coat and tie preparing for the party by Richard pouring wine over my head and me clobbering Richard with quiche exploding against the side of his head.
Unfortunately, we lost touch for nearly 40 years after I married and moved to Palo Alto and he moved to the L.A area. Happily, we reconnected again in March of 2022 when my wife Cristine and I met Richard and his amazing wife Alison in Sonoma for lunch and a visit to our home. To my delight, we instantly connected again as the great friends we were decades ago. With our renewed friendship we enjoyed several telephone chats and we fantasized about getting together again in Santa Fe.
I miss you Richard. You were one of the best friends I’ve ever had. What a great time we shared together! So very very sad to see you go.
Gordon Mortensen
(aka Gordoné Mortonnio which was the name on a sweatshirt Richard presented to me upon my return from New York to pick up some awards for our magazine, Skeptic.)
Gordon Mortensen
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