One of the most wonderful aspects of the job of university professor is that one’s occupation is based on an area of personal expertise that shapes one’s Being. So it is with Richard C. “Dick” Richards, who, amongst other areas of specialization, is a philosopher of love. Richard’s Being is one deeply entrenched in love. There is, of course, the romantic love he long shared with his recently passed wife Marty, but there is also the love of many, many students and colleagues, both in and beyond the department at California State Polytechnic University at Pomona, and undeniably his love for poetry, humor, and the philosophy to which he dedicated so many years. Most of all, though, is (as cliché as this sounds), his love of life. Few people so embody the virtues they discuss, living so vitally and thereby affecting the lives of so many who come in contact with them, even briefly, that this love is shared by so many. This volume is intended as a testament to that love given and now redirected back toward Richard C. Richards. [excerpt
