James (Tad) Richards (born March 31, 1940) is an American writer and visual artist. He is also artistic director and former president of '' Opus 40'', the sculpture park in

Saugerties, New York Saugerties () is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in the northeastern corner of Ulster County, New York, Ulster County, New York (state), New York. The population was 19,038 at the time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 c ...

. Richards was born in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

in 1940. In 1943, his mother married the sculptor Harvey Fite, who created Opus 40 from 1939 to 1976. He attended

Bard College Bard College is a private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. The campus overlooks the Hudson River and Catskill Mountains within the Hudson River Historic District ...

(where Fite was on the faculty) before earning a

Master of Fine Arts A Master of Fine Arts (MFA or M.F.A.) is a terminal degree in fine arts, including visual arts, creative writing, graphic design, photography, filmmaking, dance, theatre, other performing arts and in some cases, theatre management or arts admi ...

from the

Iowa Writers' Workshop The Iowa Writers' Workshop, at the University of Iowa, is a graduate-level creative writing program. At 89 years, it is the oldest writing program offering a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree in the United States. Its acceptance rate is between 2 ...

. At Iowa, he studied with Paul Engle, Donald Justice and Philip Roth. He has taught literature, composition and creative writing at several institutions, including

Winona State University Winona State University is a public university in Winona, Minnesota, United States. It was founded as First State Normal School of Minnesota in 1858 and is the oldest member of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System. It was the fi ...

, the State University of New York at New Paltz and

Marist College Marist University is a private university in Poughkeepsie (town), New York, Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Marist was founded by the Marist Brothers, a Catholic Church, Catholic religious institute, in 1905 to prepare brothers for their ...

. Richards began publishing in 1964, with three poems in

Poetry Magazine ''Poetry'' (founded as ''Poetry: A Magazine of Verse'') has been published in Chicago since 1912. It is one of the leading monthly poetry journals in the English-speaking world. Founded by poet and arts columnist Harriet Monroe, who built it int ...

. During the 1960s, he was a regular contributor to ''

The Realist ''The Realist'' was a magazine of "social-political-religious criticism and satire", intended as a hybrid of a grown-ups version of ''Mad'' and Lyle Stuart's anti-censorship monthly ''The Independent.'' Edited and published by Paul Krassner, ...

'',

Paul Krassner Paul Krassner (April 9, 1932 – July 21, 2019) was an American writer and satirist. He was the founder, editor, and a frequent contributor to the freethought magazine ''The Realist'', first published in 1958. Krassner became a key figure in t ...

's satirical magazine. His first non-pseudonymous novel, ''Cherokee Bill'' (a collaboration with his brother Jonathan Richards), was published by

Dell Books Dell Publishing Company, Inc. is an American publisher of books, magazines and comic books, that was founded in 1921 by George T. Delacorte Jr. with $10,000 (approx. $145,000 in 2021), two employees and one magazine title, I Confess (magazine), ...

in 1974. Since then, he has published 18 novels, including a novelization of the

Mel Brooks Melvin James Brooks (né Kaminsky; born June 28, 1926) is an American actor, comedian, filmmaker, and songwriter. With a career spanning over seven decades, he is known as a writer and director of a variety of successful broad farces and parodie ...

movie '' Blazing Saddles'' (1974). His most recent novel is ''Nick and Jake'' (

Arcade Publishing Arcade Publishing is an Imprint (trade name), imprint of the American book publisher Skyhorse Publishing, Skyhorse. Founded in 1988 by Richard Seaver and his wife Jeannette, it was originally an independent company publishing trade fiction and no ...

). ''Nick and Jake'' has also been produced as an audio play starring Alan Arkin,

Tom Conti Tommaso Antonio Conti (born 22 November 1941) is a Scottish actor. Conti has received numerous accolades including a Tony Award and a Laurence Olivier Award as well as nominations for an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award and two Golden Globe Awards ...

and Ali MacGraw. His screenwriting credits include '' The Cheerleaders'' (1973), a

sexploitation A sexploitation film (or sex-exploitation film) is a class of independently produced, Low-budget film, low-budget feature film that is generally associated with the 1960s and early 1970s, and that serves largely as a vehicle for the exhibition o ...

film characteristic of the era. Richards has written 16 works of nonfiction. ''Struggle and Lose, Struggle and Win: The Story of the

United Mine Workers The United Mine Workers of America (UMW or UMWA) is a North American Labor history of the United States, labor union best known for representing coal miners. Today, the Union also represents health care workers, truck drivers, manufacturing work ...

'' (written with Elizabeth Levy) was listed by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' as one of the best young adult books of 1977. Several of his books on finance with Neale Godfrey have been bestsellers. He has also written extensively on music and poetry; additionally, several of his songs have been recorded by Orleans, the John Hall Band, and Fred Koller.

References

External links

*''Rhythm and Blues'', fro
The St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture''New Orleans Rhythm and Blues''
in '' The St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture'' *''Jazz'', fro
the St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culturereview of Rachel Loden's ''Dick of the Dead''
in '' Jacket (magazine)'' 38.
''Selling Secrets''
in '' The Cortland Review'' issue 17. {{DEFAULTSORT:Richards, Tad 1940 births Living people 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists People from Saugerties, New York American male novelists 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers Iowa Writers' Workshop alumni Bard College alumni Winona State University faculty State University of New York at New Paltz faculty Marist College faculty