Richard Hunt

Richard Hunt was an American puppeteer, best known for his work with the Muppets.

Richard was born 16 August 1951 and showed an early interest in puppets, putting on shows for local children when he was in middle and high school. After briefly serving as a weatherman, Richard got in touch with Jim Hensen and became one of the Muppets crew in 1969.

Richard portrayed a variety of characters for Sesame Street, The Muppet Show, and Fraggle Rock. On Sesame Street, Richard voiced characters such as Placido Flamingo, Gladys the Cow, and Elmo (an early version). On Fraggle Rock, he was Junior Gorg. Most of Richard's work, however, was with the Muppets. For a time, he and Frank Oz shared the role of Miss Piggy. Later Richard voiced and controlled Scooter, Janice, Beaker, Statler, and Sweetums.

Sadly, Richard died on 7 January 1992 from complications from AIDS. He was sorely missed by the Muppet Family. To read some tributes to Richard (including one written by Kermit the Frog), click here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Hunt_%28puppeteer%29

Dick Trickle

I heard this name a couple of months ago, and I was highly amused by it. Now that I have read about Richard "Dick" Trickle, I feel a bit bad about finding his name so hilarious.

Dick was a famous race-car driver. About the only things I know about car racing are that it involves cars and racing to finish first, so bear with me here.

It seems that Dick specialized in short-track racing. According to some estimates, Dick was in over 2,200 races and won more than 1,200. That sounds pretty amazing to me. Baseball players are considered good if they can bat .500, and Dick has that beat.

Dick was born on 27 October 1947 in Wisconsin. At the tender age of 8, he fell and broke his hip. He had to wear a cast, covering his body from waist to foot, for three years! His recovery was so slow that his doctors thought he would end up a life-long invalid, but Dick was able to walk again, albeit with a slight limp.

It was while he was still in a cast that he saw his first car race. He never forgot it. Although Wikipedia doesn't say so, I like to theorize that he was so mesmerized by the cars because he saw in them a way to get around without walking (he was still in a cast at the time, remember). If I were writing a screenplay of his life, little Dick would say something to that effect. Get on it, Hollywood!

As a teen, Dick worked some in a blacksmith's shop. He learned a great deal about machinery. In the late 1950s, Dick would purchase regular cars and turn them into race cars himself. I'm impressed by this. I thought all race-car drivers did was drive fast cars; I didn't realize that some drivers also built them. Way to go, Dick!

At first, Dick mostly raced within Wisconsin. In fact, he had a day job for a few years before he decided to race full time. Even then, Dick was still largely doing his own car work, although he sometimes had help with the engine.

He was, obviously, a successful racer. In 1968 he was the USAC Stock Car Rookie of the Year. In 1989, he made his NASCAR debut, winning "Rookie of the Year" at the Winston/Sprint Cup. He was 48 years old, and he made a joke about it, saying "I guess I’d just like to thank everyone who gave a young guy like me a chance". He won a NASCAR race in 1990, but was more of a top-ten finisher than a number one racer. But that's pretty good, especially since he had already finished a full racing career.

Apparently, Dick was a committed smoker. He had a hole drilled in his safety helmet so that he could insert a cigarette.

Sadly, Dick committed suicide on 16 May 2013. Dick shot himself around noon at a cemetery in North Carolina. Before killing himself, he had called the police to report his own suicide, although he had not left his name. Dick's family released a statement saying Dick had been in chronic pain, and, despite consultations with many doctors, had been unable to find relief. Dick was only 71.

Dick was survived by his wife, children, and grandchildren. Some of his family, however, predeceased him. According to Wikipedia, he had a nephew who was killed in a drive-by shooting and a granddaughter who was killed in a car accident (and buried in the cemetery in which he committed suicide). That's a lot of tragedy for one family.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Trickle

Richard's Pub

This is a quick entry because I'm traveling. Currently, I'm in Budapest, which has a Richard's Pub. Check it out here.

It's good to know that even Hungary has Richards.

Dicks on a Mug

Here's a fabulous mug with fabulous shots of Richard II and Richard III.

Quite the dandy, isn't he?

And Richard II, still looking like a little kid.

In July 2009, I purchased a mug at the National Portrait Gallery gift shop, which featured miniature cartoon drawings of the monarchs of England since 1066. Each ruler, from William the Conqueror to Elizabeth II, was depicted in varying sensible (John looking shocked when reading Magna Carta) to ridiculous (Henry II playing leapfrog with a table) fashion. Three of the kings appeared as children, conveniently labeled with their ages when they ascended the throne: Richard II (age ten), Edward V (age thirteen), and Edward VI (age nine). Depicting Edward V and Edward VI as children makes sense, as both died before reaching adulthood (around ages thirteen and sixteen, respectively). Richard II, on the other hand, ruled as king for twenty-two years, going from a ten-year-old boy to a thirty-two-year-old man. Richard II’s situation more closely parallels Henry III (king at age nine) and Henry VI (king at age nine months) than the two later Edwards. Richard was a child when he became king, but he was a man when he was deposed. Unlike Richard, though, Henry III and Henry VI are represented on the mug as men, leaving the Black Prince’s son as the only perpetual child who actually grew up. The mug’s seeming mistake is a modern manifestation of Richard II’s image problem. Despite becoming a chronological adult, Richard II, in the eyes of many, never reached full maturity.

At one point, I tried that as an intro to a discussion of Richard II's maturity problem. It was not academic enough to remain in the dissertation, but I find it very telling. Why is it that Richard II, out of all the kings of England, can't grow up, even hundreds of years later? Even Henry VI gets to grow up and he became king at age 9 months.

Christopher Fletcher has written a really great book about Richard's maturity problem (citation below), but I argue it also had something to do with Richard's childlessness. Maybe someday I'll be published and you can read about it.

*Fletcher, Christopher David.  Richard II: Manhood, Youth, and Politics, 1377-99.  Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008.

Richard Overton

Richard Overton is the oldest living veteran in the United States. He just turned 107 on May 11, 2013.



Richard served in the US Army during World War II. From 1942-1945 he was in the South Pacific. After being discharged in October 1945, Richard returned to Texas where he initially worked in a furniture story. Later he worked for the Texas Treasury Department and didn't retire until he was in his 80s!

Richard was married twice, but he never had any children. I find it fascinating that this appeared in the news. It's not anybody's business whether Richard has children, but I appreciated the info as I am always on the lookout for childlessness. In fact, Richard Overton is like Richard II: married twice with no kids! Granted, Richard Overton was never king, but he has lived over three times as long as Richard II, so it's probably a wash.

Richard likes to do yard work and does not watch any television. He smokes as many as twelve cigars a day and often drinks some whiskey with his coffee or with soda water in the evenings. Richard is quoted as saying, "Whiskey’s a good medicine. It keeps your muscles tender."

That's awesome!

In other news, when I googled "Richard Overton" I discovered that there was an English pamphleteer during the English Civil War and Protectorate with the same name.

Overton was a big fan of representative government and a big enemy of tyranny (which in his mind seemed to be monarchy). Anyway, he wrote a lot of pamphlets and was sent to prison a fair amount because that's how life was in the 1640s.

Read more on the veteran:

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/05/26/america-oldest-veteran-to-spend-quiet-memorial-day-at-texas-home/#ixzz2W7hGXHoh

http://www.newsmax.com/thewire/oldest-vet-107-richard-overton/2013/05/28/id/506561

Richard Ramirez

This will be a short entry because today's subject is a really bad person. But a blog such as this cannot fail to comment on today's news:

Richard Ramirez, the Night Stalker, died today.

Ramirez was a serial killer who terrorized California (namely Los Angeles and, briefly, San Francisco) in 1984-1985. He was convicted in 1989 of 13 counts of murder, 5 counts of attempted murder, 11 counts of sexual assault (one of which was the rape of a little girl), and 14 counts of burglary. He was awaiting execution on death row when he died of liver failure around 9 AM today (June 7).

The best part of the Night Stalker story is his capture. To elude police capture, the Night Stalker (whose face had been in the newspaper) ran towards East LA looking for a car to boost. He found one sitting in a driveway with the keys inside. When he started the car, he found out why the keys were inside: the owner was underneath the car making repairs. The owner jumped onto his own car like an action-film hero and wouldn’t get off. Since his vision was obstructed, Night Stalker abandoned that car and tried to car-jack a woman who was getting ready to drive to work. When she screamed, her husband came running and started beating on Night Stalker. His shouts alerted the neighbor man, who came running with his strapping teenage sons. Night Stalker exited the car and took off running down the street. The neighbors recognized him from the newspaper picture, so they took off after him, eventually catching him and subduing him (no doubt through a beat down). And so, the Night Stalker was brought low by teamwork. Go East LA!

Read more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Ramirez.

On Richard II

A quote from the Historia Vitae et Regni Ricardi Secundi on Richard II. Taken from Chronicles of the Revolution 1397-1400 by Chris Given-Wilson, page 241.

"King Richard was of average height, fair-haired, with a pale complexion and a rounded feminine face which was sometimes flushed; he was abrupt and stammering in his speech, and, because he preferred to take counsel from the young, he was capricious in his behavior. He was prodigious with gifts, extravagantly ostentatious in his dress and pastimes, and unlucky as well as faint-hearted in foreign warfare. Towards his servants he often displayed great anger; he was also puffed up with pride, consumed by avarice, much given to luxury, and fond of burning the candle at both ends, sometimes staying up half the night, and at other times right through until morning, drinking and indulging himself in other unmentionable ways."

A little food for thought: when Richard II's tomb was opened in 1871, his skeleton was measured. The king clocked in at approximately six feet tall. Six feet! Either this chronicler doesn't know what he was talking about when he said Richard was of average height, or medieval people were not as short as people like to claim. The answer is probably a mix: the chronicler did NOT particularly like Richard, nor were medieval people all the size of leprechauns.