Remembering Paul Richardson

Paul Richardson was always the most interesting person in the room, but you probably never could have convinced him of that.

Readers of his weekly column know that he and his wife Linda, always referred to lovingly as the "good wife," traveled across the country on motorcycles absorbing the culture, the cuisine and the history and the rest of us were able to enjoy those adventures vicariously.

It was even better to hear him tell them in person.

It is impossible for those who knew Paul to read his stories without hearing his voice and laughter. It was a laughter that was even more robust when someone else was doing the storytelling.

As well as he could talk, he was an even better listener.

For those of us who knew him for more than half a century, the Paul Richardson this area has come to know, especially over these past few years- with his columns, his Hideout Harley Davidson commercials, his appearances on KSN with Hank Rotten, Jr. and his work for the city of Neosho, bears only a slight resemblance to the Paul we knew at East Newton High School in the early '70s.

While Paul always had the capability of creating mischief, his reputation at East Newton was as a scholar. Those of us who enjoyed Mr. Bill Keith's science classes but couldn't comprehend what he was talking about were in awe of Paul. He not only understood everything Mr. Keith said, but he could even hold his own in a conversation with him.

When Mr. Don Bogle, our English teacher, was unhappy with the direction the school newspaper, the Fife and Drum, was taking, he removed the senior leadership and put Paul, a junior, in charge. Paul turned the newspaper around and served as editor until his graduation with the class of '74.

I don't remember when it was, but sometime after Paul graduated from the University of Missouri-Rolla and had worked a few years for the Missouri Department of Transportation, a few members of the class of '74 began meeting each year, usually on the Friday night between Christmas and New Year's Day. While there was always a bit of reminiscing, the evenings were also filled with updates on our lives and invariably, some guitars would be taken out of their cases and the room would be filled with music.

When one such session led some of us to form a group called Natural Disaster, some of our early performances took place at Paul's business, the Sane Mule Motorcycle Shop, which was located next to his home. We provided musical accompaniment to his "Too Cold for Ice Cream Chili Supper" and his "Too Hot for Chili Ice Cream Social," if memory serves correctly.

With Paul, it was always a new adventure. Not only in his travels with the good wife, but in many of the tasks he undertook over the past several years. For Paul, who always loved motorcycles, owning the Sane Mule was a dream come true and later he became a top salesman at Hideout Harley Davidson.

His more recent moves into public relations working for the city of Neosho and then as an independent event planner helping organize everything from bluegrass festivals to the annual Neosho Fall Festival enabled him to do what he loved doing- meeting and working with people.

His job with the city of Neosho was the gateway to introducing thousands of people to Paul through his newspaper columns. Even when his Neosho job ended thanks to new city leadership (Paul didn't suffer fools and unfortunately, for the city, fools felt the same way about Paul), the Neosho Daily News continued publishing his columns, as did the Seneca News-Dispatch and Aurora Advertiser.

At one of the holiday get-togethers at Paul's house, I told him how much I enjoyed his columns and from that point, the columns were published weekly on the Turner Report.

In one early column, he explained his writing approach and made it clear why readers gravitated to it.

 During my teenage years I would have conformed to acquire the approval of others. It was when I let go of searching for approval that the end products held merit and were truly me. It’s best not to conform.

The last time I talked to Paul was in late September at the Newtonia Fall Festival and he was embarking on yet another adventure. The new owner of the Neosho Daily News, Jimmy Sexton, had expanded Paul's role. He was not only a columnist, but a reporter, covering local governmental meetings. 

Paul was enjoying the challenge.

I will miss reading about Paul's new adventures and even more than that, hearing them first-hand.

This year's holiday get-together will be a visitation. Paul Richardson, always the most interesting person in the room, has left us at age 65, far too young.

But what a life he lived in those 65 years.

(Photo: Taken from one of our holiday get-togethers- from left, Richard Taylor, Paul Richardson, Randy Turner, Rick Clymer, Bill Lemaster)