Sad News - R.I.P. Richard Olson - Yellow Kid 6 6

[50YrsCollctngCmcs]

I've some very sad news to share; Richard Olson (Yellow Kid) passed away last Sunday close to his home in Mississippi after battling ongoing health issues. His wife Gayle of 54 years was with him that day. As many know Rich was a very early collector of comics in the Southern California area and good friends with back issue retailing pioneer Leonard Brown. In fact he partnered with him in his earliest forays into buying old comics for resale; posting notices in grocery stores in the early 1960’s.

Leonard wanted Rich to join him in opening Collector's Book store in Hollywood but Rich chose a different career path and pursued a science degree at the University of Redlands in Redlands California. He eventually chose an academic career settling in the New Orleans area and retiring at his beloved Red Oak ranch in Mississippi.

For those of us who got to know him on the boards; Rich was not only a great source of early comics collecting history but also a generous soul willing to reach out to those sharing his love of the medium. I am sure there are many wonderful stories about Rich from various members on these boards and this would a wonderful place to share them.

Edited May 7, 2023 by 50YrsCollctngCmcs

[thehumantorch]

So sorry to hear of his passing

[Jayman]

Sad to hear, always interesting stories and unique items shown when he posted. My condolences to his family.

[50YrsCollctngCmcs]

While I have a number of great memories to share of Rich I will start with one that had nothing to do with comics. When my son was finishing high school we were working on his college applications and considering a variety of schools. I had mentioned this to Rich in an e-mail and we started discussing various options for my son. Rich suggested we visit his alma mater the University of Redlands which hadn’t been on our radar and went so far as to arrange a meeting with the school for us.

I was really impressed with the school and our meeting and thought it would be a really great match for my son. Rich’s influence also resulted in a very nice scholarship offer from the school that really would have helped out. My wife son and I visited the school for a prospect’s orientation day. Since I knew Rich had played on the basketball team I went to see if there were any mementos of his time in the school gym. Lo and behold I saw the picture below on the wall and recognized Rich as probably being the player in the center of the upper row. I sent the photo to Rich and he confirmed it!

Alas, my son had other ideas about where to go college and after an interesting college journey is graduating in a couple of weeks from the University of San Francisco. I will always be grateful to Rich for his efforts in assisting my son in gaining admission at his alma mater even though he did not attend.

 

 

Edited May 7, 2023 by 50YrsCollctngCmcs

[jimbo_7071]

I'm sorry to hear this. I did not know Richard, but I was looking at his website with Yellow Kid collectibles just last weekend. 

Edited May 7, 2023 by jimbo_7071

[G.A.tor]

Another bummer. I always enjoyed our conversations…and still have all the pins he used to make and send. 

[Randall Dowling]

I never interacted with him directly but always appreciated his posts as he was an incredible well of experience and information about collecting.  This is a great loss for the community.  My thoughts and condolences are with his friends and family. 

R.I.P. Yellow Kid.

[50YrsCollctngCmcs]

Rich and I shared a love of the Carl Barks one shot Four Color books. We both were particularly enamored with Frozen Gold. When I first met Rich on the boards I was still in pursuit of a nice copy and had been on the hunt for something like forty years! Rich loved sharing a story of how he scored his first copy in the basement of a used book store on Colorado Avenue in Pasadena. Since I lived in the Pasadena area that story always had a special resonance for me as I had always haunted used bookstores since I was a kid back in New Jersey.

I was finally able to obtain my copy of Frozen Gold a number of years ago and Rich was the first person I reached out to to share the good news. He really understood what it meant to look for these grails and then finally land them!

I’m pretty sure that’s why he branched out into the world of Yellow Kid pinbacks. They were such a hard to find commodity and he not only loved the hunt but also the documentation of his finds for research purposes. Since my Grandmother was the daughter of Irish immigrants settling in New York in the late 1800’s we would discuss the historical aspect of the pins in the context of the Irish immigration.

Here’s my copy of Four Color #62!!

[Mmehdy]

RIP

[skypinkblu]

He was an absolute sweetheart, I knew he was ill a few years ago, but lost touch with him recently. I always loved the pins he made. Just a nice man, who knew everything and every one in the history of comics it seemed.
Rest in Peace 

[Frisco Larson]

Such sad news. I did correspond with him a few times, quite a few years ago now and he was always a very nice guy. My condolences to his family and friends. 

[MattTheDuck]

Sorry to hear another friend of our hobby and these Boards has passed.  All the best to his family and those who loved him.

I wonder what should/can be done to preserve his knowledge. "...he not only loved the hunt but also the documentation of his finds for research purposes."  If that research is written down or available on audio tape or whatever, it should be preserved.

[Azkaban]

RIP 

[comicjack]

Sorry to hear this 

[Gotham Kid]

Oh man, another boardie. What sad news. RIP Richard

[AJD]

Oh no. I have corresponded with Rich on and off for years, and he sent me some lovely gifts of duck pinbacks he made. I'm very sorry to hear that Frank. I was very happy once to learn that he had attended a famous Bob Dylan concert at the Hollywood Bowl in 1965 and be in a position to send him a bootleg recording of same for him to revisit the event.

Please let Gayle know that Rich's kindness was much appreciated by me on the other side of the Pacific.

Andrew

[AJD]

Here is a selection of those pinbacks. They reflected not only his own passions, but he was generous to include others, like my love of war stamp covers. And I see Frank's grail here too.

[adamstrange]

Richard invited me to his home back in 2019, and I had a wonderful time with him and Gayle.  There could not have been more gracious hosts.

I was hoping to make it out again this year, but his health would not allow it.

RIP. 

[Robot Man]

Very sad to learn the passing of Rich…

I met him through the boards many years ago. Although my collecting pursuits are more along how you say, the “seedy” stuff and his were a little more “wholesome”  we had a lot in common. He grew up in the town I currently live in and we frequented the same places looking for comics back in the days of no internet or even much mail order. We swapped stories. One of the best he told me.

Very early on, he and Leonard Brown (co founder of Collector’s Book store in Hollywood), would run ads in the local newspaper looking for comics.

They once got a call and went to meet a guy in a rough part of town after dark. They knocked on the door and were greeted by a guy with a glass of wine in his bathrobe (open to reveal he was naked)! Well, Rich and Leonard were big athletic guys and figured they could take him. Besides, the lure of comics won out and in they went.

The guy owned a liquor store and instead of returning comics and magazines just kept them. He had a living room full.

The guy told them to sit on the couch and offered them some wine. Rich said they both just kept pouring it behind the couch as the guy brought out the books.

The books were unread copies of comics back to the dawn of the GA in some cases many multiple copies of things like single digit Superman’s and Actions in the teens and more. They agreed on a price (basically cover price) then the guy said there were more in the bedroom.

They both had visions of “Silence of the Lambs” but just had to know so in they went. More of the same but even up to the early ‘50’s. Leonard noticed a large stack of MAD #1s but they guy said they were not for sale. So when he wasn’t looking, Leonard grabbed a big handful and buried them in his box.

They went out and basically paid the very drunk guy a fixed price per box, loaded them up and took off laughing over their good fortune.

Rich said it was probably the best find he had ever gotton.

We were good friends and he even paid me a visit on a final trip he made to LA. I knew he was in bad health a few months ago when I hadn’t seen him post and hadn’t heard from him. He explained he just returned from an extended hospital visit but was home and recovering. I didn’t pry but we just talked comics.

Rich was a fountain of knowledge about Platinium and early GA books and shared his love freely. A generous and warm person. We have lost another icon and link to the dawn of comic collecting and I have lost another friend…

My prayers go out to Gayle and his family and friends. But be assured he is now with Leonard, prowling Heaven looking for another find.

RIP my friend…

Edited May 7, 2023 by Robot Man

[Robot Man]

On 5/6/2023 at 8:17 PM, 50YrsCollctngCmcs said:

Rich and I shared a love of the Carl Barks one shot Four Color books. We both were particularly enamored with Frozen Gold. When I first met Rich on the boards I was still in pursuit of a nice copy and had been on the hunt for something like forty years! Rich loved sharing a story of how he scored his first copy in the basement of a used book store on Colorado Avenue in Pasadena. Since I lived in the Pasadena area that story always had a special resonance for me as I had always haunted used bookstores since I was a kid back in New Jersey.

 

I was finally able to obtain my copy of Frozen Gold a number of years ago and Rich was the first person I reached out to to share the good news. He really understood what it meant to look for these grails and then finally land them!

 

I’m pretty sure that’s why he branched out into the world of Yellow Kid pinbacks. They were such a hard to find commodity and he not only loved the hunt but also the documentation of his finds for research purposes. Since my Grandmother was the daughter of Irish immigrants settling in New York in the late 1800’s we would discuss the historical aspect of the pins in the context of the Irish immigration.

 

Here’s my copy of Four Color #62!!

 

 

Yep, that book store was The Book Nook at the corner of Fair Oaks and Colorado in what at that time, was a very bad part of town.

Me and my buddies would ride out bikes there in the mid ‘60’s. The old guy had a couple of boxes of used somewhat current mostly Marvel, DC, Archie ect for 10 cents each. Nothing real old but once I fished a Superman #9 and a couple others out of a stack of old life mags. Penciled on the back was $3.00. He wasn’t going to sell them until I pulled out $9.00 then he caved.

Every once in a while if we could distract him, we would find more.

The rumor was the “good stuff” was in the basement. But just local “folklore” as we were to scared to go there.

Rich got in though. He was a little older and had more money than we did. He told me of the stacks of old comics the guy let him go through.