In Memoriam: Richard C. White, 1937-2004
In Memoriam: Richard C. White, 1937-2004
My older brother, Richard C. White, passed away on May 16, 2004, at his home outside Ridgely, Maryland, U.S.A. He was sixty-six years old.
He was one of those fortunate men whose vocation also was his avocation. For most of his life, Dick was a boat builder at various boatyards around Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay. He was known for his skill and high standards at working with wood. When he finished a job, you knew it was a new personal best.
For Dick, fishing was the ultimate battle between man and a quarry hidden beneath the waves. Shortly before he died, Dick and his son John caught a 46-inch, 30-pound rockfish off Hoopers Island, Maryland. It was a hell of a fish, and a fitting finale for Dick’s fishing days.
Dick was also deeply involved with the maritime history of Chesapeake Bay. He was the driving force behind the re-creation of old Chesapeake Bay work boats; the growing number of old-style Smith Island crab skiffs is due directly to his pioneering efforts.
So what does this have to do with Red Star Railways? A lot. Dick motivated me to market models made with my own hands -- Proletarian Series wagons and Zavod1 diesels. He also reminded me that each model inevitably is in some way flawed, to leave my ego in the closet, and to charge only what the models are worth, not what the market will bear. And by example, he inspired me to work for a new personal best with each new model.