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

[Paul © ® ⚽️💙™]

On 5/7/2023 at 4:15 PM, Robot Man said:

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.

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.

[Robot Man]

On 5/7/2023 at 5:44 AM, AJD said:

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.

Yeah, I got many of those for many years. All his beloved characters like Donald Duck, Yellow Kid, Buster Brown, and Peter Rabbit. All holiday related especially the 4th of July which was his favorite. He was a very generous guy and sent them out to all of his many friends. Here is just a small handful of the many he sent to me.

[sfcityduck]

Richard and I started corresponding a bit when I sold him a copy of FC456, which I gathered was his favorite book.  It was a census topping copy and he was concerned enough about the book that he offered to fly my wife and I to New Orleans so I could personally deliver the book and hang out with him at his house.  I regret turning down his offer but I was busy with cases.  

Richard was kind enough to share with me stories and information about his early days of collecting.  I am grateful for his generosity. In one of our exchanges he posted something I feel compelled to share:

-------------------------------------

Richard,

I am just curious if you bought, or know who bought, the Barks bound volume inscribed to Malcolm Willits.  I don't want to harass the owner or seek to buy it, but I am curious if it found a good home.  I know you love ducks, and that bound volume is, in my opinion, an important historical document that deserves to be owned by a true duck lover.  On the off chance you don't know what I'm referring to, this is a link.

https://comics.ha.com/itm/golden-age-1938-1955-/humor/dell-giant-comics-bound-volume-signed-by-carl-barks-dell-1949-51-/a/122049-11117.s?type=lotlink--bidnotice-tracked-dailystatus

Hope you are happy and healthy!  Stay safe.

Alec

—————————————

Alec,

I did not buy the volume, and neither of the two major duck collectors I talk with most frequently didn't buy it either.  However, I think the bidding was strong enough that it went to a collector who will treasure it.

Mal did write me in early 2020 and say that he had decided to stop going to doctors and taking his meds because he had had enough.  He died a few months later and I think of his handwritten letter to me as a sad but important piece of comic history.  Leonard Brown and I had a mail-order comic business.  When I didn't want to open a store with Leonard, he found Mal and they opened Collectors Book Store in 1964.  The three of us would have lunch together when I visited my parents at Christmas in Long Beach.  I visited Leonard for a week before he died, and Mal joined us one day and I treasure the picture Leonard's wife took of the three of us as it was the last time we were all together.  We liked to think that we were one of the driving forces in developing the rare comic business in Southern California.   

Now they have both died and I am 76 and when my time comes, it will mark the end of an important chapter in the history of our hobby.

Take Care,

Richard

Edited May 7, 2023 by sfcityduck

[Robot Man]

On 5/7/2023 at 8:38 AM, sfcityduck said:

Richard and I started corresponding a bit when I sold him a copy of FC456, which I gathered was his favorite book.  It was a census topping copy and he was concerned enough about the book that he offered to fly my wife and I to New Orleans so I could personally deliver the book and hang out with him at his house.  I regret turning down his offer but I was busy with cases.  
 

Richard was kind enough to share with me stories and information about his early days of collecting.  I am grateful for his generosity. In one of our exchanges he posted something I feel compelled to share:

 

Richard,

I am just curious if you bought, or know who bought, the Barks bound volume inscribed to Malcolm Willits.  I don't want to harass the owner or seek to buy it, but I am curious if it found a good home.  I know you love ducks, and that bound volume is, in my opinion, an important historical document that deserves to be owned by a true duck lover.  On the off chance you don't know what I'm referring to, this is a link.

https://comics.ha.com/itm/golden-age-1938-1955-/humor/dell-giant-comics-bound-volume-signed-by-carl-barks-dell-1949-51-/a/122049-11117.s?type=lotlink--bidnotice-tracked-dailystatus

Hope you are happy and healthy!  Stay safe.

Alec

—————————————

Alec,

I did not buy the volume, and neither of the two major duck collectors I talk with most frequently didn't buy it either.  However, I think the bidding was strong enough that it went to a collector who will treasure it.

Mal did write me in early 2020 and say that he had decided to stop going to doctors and taking his meds because he had had enough.  He died a few months later and I think of his handwritten letter to me as a sad but important piece of comic history.  Leonard Brown and I had a mail-order comic business.  When I didn't want to open a store with Leonard, he found Mal and they opened Collectors Book Store in 1964.  The three of us would have lunch together when I visited my parents at Christmas in Long Beach.  I visited Leonard for a week before he died, and Mal joined us one day and I treasure the picture Leonard's wife took of the three of us as it was the last time we were all together.  We liked to think that we were one of the driving forces in developing the rare comic business in Southern California.   

Now they have both died and I am 76 and when my time comes, it will mark the end of an important chapter in the history of our hobby.

Take Care,

Richard

Indeed. Collector’s Book Store along with Cherokee Books and Bond Street books in Hollywood were long before any real comic book centric shops in the LA area. I remember being run out of the store as did @Tri-ColorBrian because we were kids with no money…

I did buy a lot of cheap PCH dollar books out of the hallway in Cherokee Books and occasionally stepped up for a couple more expensive ECs and Batman’s from Burt Blum’s “Inner Sanctum”.

I did most of my buying around the corner from Steve Edrington at Bond Street Books. Steve was s great guy and let me pay payments over 6 months on a More Fun #52.

Rich told me he still gets Christmas cards from Steve. So Steve is probably that last living link to the GA of “comic stores” in LA. 

[adamstrange]

Richard and his home in 2019.

[tb]

Rich was one of my best friends and probably the most amazing human being I've ever met. Over the past 15 years, he and I exchanged over 7,000 emails and I got to visit him and Gayle at least once or twice each year. I had the privilege to spend last Sunday afternoon with them by his bed at the hospital after flying in that morning. Though he was very weak at that point, he was sharp until the very end and managed to raise his eyebrows in his usual infectious smile when he saw me. He and Gayle got to say a very beautiful last goodbye.

Last October, Rich suffered a fall that reduced his mobility and made it more difficult for him to get to his computer. Like others, I noticed a significant slowdown in his communication after that, but he remained his same old self. Just recently, he was very excited about a Yellow Kid pin set that was up for sale at Hake's.

One of the things that may not be widely known about him is just how generous he could be once he got to know and like you. He would always listen very patiently to anything that was going on in my life and then use his incredible analytical skills to offer advice. And his generosity extended so much beyond that.

50YrsCollectingCmcs mentioned the story of how Rich and Leonard found a beautiful Four Color 62 during one of their adventures in the late 1950s. At the time, Rich was the one who found the book in one of the piles in the basement, but Leonard was just as desperate to get it: neither of them had ever seen or read this book before and it had an almost mythical status to them. They ended up trading the next day, on the condition that Leonard would offer the book back to Rich first if he ever were to sell it. As the years turned into decades, they would often talk about this and their many other finds when they got together. In 1977, Rich made a painting of the front cover and mailed it to Leonard as a gentle reminder of his pledge. When Leonard eventually sold his collection, which included the top census copy of Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #1 and many other super high grade Disney comics, he kept the FC 62. Shortly before he passed away around 2005(?), he mailed an unannounced package to Rich containing the cover painting as well as the book. Rich then kept it prominently on display in its fortress holder. A couple of years ago, when I got to visit Rich and Gayle again after COVID, Rich took me to his office where, as always, he had prepared a stack of considerate gifts for me. These would either have a practical purpose or an interesting story to them, but they always reflected a unique degree of thoughtfulness. At the bottom of the pile that day were two items: the 1977 painting and the high grade Four Color 62.

RIP.

[Flex Mentallo]

Rich and I chatted from time to time in the Serendip thread and via the occasional message. We hadn't conversed for some years, and I had no idea he was ill.

I always found him to be a warm and generous presence.

He astonished me once, by expressing an interest in buying one of my paintings, which I happened to post in Serendip, but it turned out to be too large for the wall he had in mind. (If you paint something measuring 10×7 feet, you hardly envisage ever selling it, still less, that someone would want to hang it on their living room wall!)

I'm so sad to hear this news, but I am warmed by all these stories of his interactions with other boardies.

I look forward to reading more of his life and times, from those who knew him well.

I wish I'd known him better.

[buttock]

A staple of the collecting community and a true loss for the hobby.  

[adamstrange]

On 5/7/2023 at 12:44 PM, tb said:

One of the things that may not be widely known about him is just how generous he could be once he got to know and like you. He would always listen very patiently to anything that was going on in my life and then use his incredible analytical skills to offer advice. And his generosity extended so much beyond that.

I will always be grateful to tb for introducing me to Richard.  Richard's knowledge of the hobby and history of comics was extraordinary and I benefited from his wisdom.  He let me roam freely through his library, which held much early material including Yellow Kid strips that I had never previously encountered in person.  These were a revelation and opened up a whole area of comics history to me.

A couple years after my visit, he let me know a package was on the way.

[mlansdown]

I read the title of this thread in shock. Rich and I were trading e-mails just last month - he was interested in acquiring some of the large Tuck mechanical valentines that featured early comic characters like Buster Brown, Little Nemo, Foxy Grandpa, and the Katzenjammer Kids.  I knew his health was not good when he begged off talking on the phone, but I had no idea how serious his condition was.

I originally met Rich through my pinback website, and he was a generous source of knowledge about comics and comic memorabilia.  Years ago, when I told Rich that I finally finished my Yellow Kid pinback set, he sounded just as happy as me!  Rich was a true icon of the comic collecting world, and I will miss him dearly.  Rest in peace, good friend.

[tb]

On 5/7/2023 at 3:49 PM, mlansdown said:

 [...] Years ago, when I told Rich that I finally finished my Yellow Kid pinback set, he sounded just as happy as me!  Rich was a true icon of the comic collecting world, and I will miss him dearly.

That's so typical Rich: nothing would get him more excited than when someone reached a very difficult milestone. One of my own favorite memories was his reaction when my Excel spreadsheet revealed that the average CGC grade of my Mickey Mouse Magazine run finally had reached 9.00 after half a dozen years of hovering in the 8.90s. Rich was just as big a geek for numbers and statistics as I am and he was the only person I could share my excitement with because I knew he would understand the significance that this eye rolling moment had to me. Not only that, but he assembled a collage of all the covers in my run and mailed me a framed and matted copy of it. His excitement on behalf of others was just as genuine and enthusiastic as when he added a rare find to his own collection.

[Sandflea]

Many condolences 

[sfcityduck]

On 5/7/2023 at 9:54 AM, Flex Mentallo said:

 

I look forward to reading more of his life and times, from those who knew him well.

 

Well, no one knew himself as well as he did.  He sent me an article he wrote about Leonard Brown and Malcolm Willits.  He clearly was very proud of the association he had with them, although he did not hide that he largely exited their story due to the choices he made to pursue his academic and professional pursuits.  He sent me this article he wrote about them:

[sfcityduck]

And here's an interview of Richard that he sent me. Probably not a surprise to some here that I like comic history.  So I was grateful that Richard shared this material with me. I re-read these after reading this thread, it was nice to see the stories again and the posts above by others with more to share.  I didn't really know him well, but I'm grateful for his generosity.  He emailed me once: "If we ever get the chance to visit, I will tell you some amazing stories." I never did. I really am glad that others who knew him are sharing those stories and that some of them ended up being put  down on paper like the interview below. One of the last communications began with the statement "Comics have always been a part of my life, sometimes a large part, and I have been fortunate to be involved at just the right time."  Later the discussion turned to a particular issue of Uncle Scrooge in high grade, but hadn't found one for all his efforts. He stated:

Quote

The US #6 isn't rare except in higher grades.  The problem is that during production, the cover was cut larger than the interior, so any kind of use would result in edge bends and tears.  Heritage recently had a CGC 6.5 and you could see the start of problems across the top edge.  It also looked like it might have had some staining or browning, and I passed on it.  I have a decent copy but would like one comparable to the FC #456 [which I'd sold him - a 9.4 white].  At the moment, I think the top of the Census is 8.0, but I'm sure there is a great copy out there in some old collector's set.  A lot of my age cohorts are quitting or dying, so I expect to see a lot of nice books appearing for the first time in the years ahead. It sounds like you are involved at just the right time.

The juxtaposition of the statement about how he'd been fortunate be involved at just the right time in the 1950s-1960s, and how it was still "just the right time" because great books (like, he hoped, a US 6) found back then would be coming to market is something I found touching. It was a mixture of optimism, delight, maybe a bit of melancholy, but mostly something I'd call wisdom.  My sympathies to his family and you folks here who knew him much better than me.

[50YrsCollctngCmcs]

On 5/8/2023 at 10:26 AM, sfcityduck said:

Well, no one knew himself as well as he did.  He sent me an article he wrote about Leonard Brown and Malcolm Willits.  He clearly was very proud of the association he had with them, although he did not hide that he largely exited their story due to the choices he made to pursue his academic and professional pursuits.  He sent me this article he wrote about them:

Rich shared some very interesting stories about Malcolm Willits and Rick Durrell; suffice to say some better not told. One interesting story though is that Malcolm was apparently featured on a cable program (Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous perhaps) that showed off his house and collections. It would be really fascinating to get a copy of that show.

[AJD]

On 5/8/2023 at 11:58 AM, sfcityduck said:

  Quote

The US #6 isn't rare except in higher grades.  The problem is that during production, the cover was cut larger than the interior, so any kind of use would result in edge bends and tears.  Heritage recently had a CGC 6.5 and you could see the start of problems across the top edge.  It also looked like it might have had some staining or browning, and I passed on it.  I have a decent copy but would like one comparable to the FC #456 [which I'd sold him - a 9.4 white].  At the moment, I think the top of the Census is 8.0, but I'm sure there is a great copy out there in some old collector's set.

Wow, that takes me back a bit. I had a similar exchange with Rich about 2010, when I was searching for a suitable copy of Uncle Scrooge #6. I'd joined Heritage a month or two after that auction and figured I'd find another similar book soon enough. Ten years and no nice copies coming across my radar later... a boardie sold me that same copy that I'd missed at Heritage. I cracked it out, and I'd say that Rich had a very good eye. The copy is nice enough, but the interior covers are indeed a bit toasty! There's still no census copy above 8.0 and my 6.5 is still tied for seventh place. I assume that Rich never found that 9.x copy he wanted.

[Flex Mentallo]

On 5/8/2023 at 2:26 AM, sfcityduck said:

Well, no one knew himself as well as he did.  He sent me an article he wrote about Leonard Brown and Malcolm Willits.  He clearly was very proud of the association he had with them, although he did not hide that he largely exited their story due to the choices he made to pursue his academic and professional pursuits.  He sent me this article he wrote about them:

 

It's so touching to read an article about the early days of the hobby, written by one passionate man remembering another, both now lost.

I guffawed at the passage describing how other aspiring dealers hunted down 'the naked man' only to find everything he'd collected already vanished [presumably to reappear later in the vault]. He names a couple of these aspirants, one of them not entirely unknown to me,and writes, 'It couldn't have happened to more appropriate people.' Shades of Richard Chandler!

Seeing Brown and Wilts dressed like FBI agents [before they switched to slacks and sneakers], reminded me of the day some 10 years ago, when I flew in from the UK to Houston to meet my fellow boardies Richard Evans and Billy Parker for the first time, only to find them strangely not dressed like FBI agents. [Needless to say, the suit I'd worn to impress them languished in my suitcase for the rest of my visit.]

As Rich Olson would certainly have known, 'Know thyself' is one of the maxims inscribed in the forecourt of the temple at Delphi, and his oracular certainty of his path is, like the oracle, a proof that he made good life choices and didn't regret them.

 

Edited May 8, 2023 by Flex Mentallo

[Tri-Color Brian]

This is sad news.  I won't repeat everything Robot Man and everyone else has said, but I enjoyed my chats with Richard very much.  He sent me a lot of material pertaining to the early days of collecting in Los Angeles and the history of Collector's Books. 

 

R.I.P. Richard

[Mr. Lady Luck]

I did not know Richard but it sounds like he was a comic legend and a wonderful human being.

My condolences to his family and friends.

[Robot Man]

On 5/7/2023 at 9:44 AM, tb said:

Rich was one of my best friends and probably the most amazing human being I've ever met. Over the past 15 years, he and I exchanged over 7,000 emails and I got to visit him and Gayle at least once or twice each year. I had the privilege to spend last Sunday afternoon with them by his bed at the hospital after flying in that morning. Though he was very weak at that point, he was sharp until the very end and managed to raise his eyebrows in his usual infectious smile when he saw me. He and Gayle got to say a very beautiful last goodbye.

Last October, Rich suffered a fall that reduced his mobility and made it more difficult for him to get to his computer. Like others, I noticed a significant slowdown in his communication after that, but he remained his same old self. Just recently, he was very excited about a Yellow Kid pin set that was up for sale at Hake's.

One of the things that may not be widely known about him is just how generous he could be once he got to know and like you. He would always listen very patiently to anything that was going on in my life and then use his incredible analytical skills to offer advice. And his generosity extended so much beyond that.

50YrsCollectingCmcs mentioned the story of how Rich and Leonard found a beautiful Four Color 62 during one of their adventures in the late 1950s. At the time, Rich was the one who found the book in one of the piles in the basement, but Leonard was just as desperate to get it: neither of them had ever seen or read this book before and it had an almost mythical status to them. They ended up trading the next day, on the condition that Leonard would offer the book back to Rich first if he ever were to sell it. As the years turned into decades, they would often talk about this and their many other finds when they got together. In 1977, Rich made a painting of the front cover and mailed it to Leonard as a gentle reminder of his pledge. When Leonard eventually sold his collection, which included the top census copy of Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #1 and many other super high grade Disney comics, he kept the FC 62. Shortly before he passed away around 2005(?), he mailed an unannounced package to Rich containing the cover painting as well as the book. Rich then kept it prominently on display in its fortress holder. A couple of years ago, when I got to visit Rich and Gayle again after COVID, Rich took me to his office where, as always, he had prepared a stack of considerate gifts for me. These would either have a practical purpose or an interesting story to them, but they always reflected a unique degree of thoughtfulness. At the bottom of the pile that day were two items: the 1977 painting and the high grade Four Color 62.

RIP.

Awsome. He knew where they would be and that they would have been taken care of. Obviously, generous is an understatement when it came to Rich.

When he came to visit me he had a paper bag with him. Out came a 1940 Superman puzzle. He had remembered I said it was the last one I needed to complete my set. I offered to pay him or trade him something from my old Disney toy collection but he would have nothing to do with it. He told me it needed to be with me.

Rich and I were very different. We were on different political sides, I liked PCH and GGA and he liked Funny animals. He liked Superman and Capt. Marvel, I liked the darker Batman & The Spectre. In high school I played in a rock band and ran around with “hoods” and he was a jock. But we both agreed on our love of the medium and love of the “hunt”. The great equalizer.

The last time we talked on the phone, the subject came up about our age and the fact that we both needed to start getting rid of stuff. I’d been working on it but Rich just couldn’t do it. I get it. At the end of the day, despite our many differences, we both knew we were collectors to the core…

Edited May 8, 2023 by Robot Man