I first talked to Rick in October, 1986. I had recently moved to Kennebunkport
from Colorado, and had just bought my first A500,
and Rick was running a BBS on a Commodore 64. In 1989 I bought a modem and
logged on to Harbour Lights BBS for the first time. By now
Rick was running the BBS on an Amiga
2000, and I found a home, and soon the wide world of Fido. Rick and I became
close friends over the next years; we had a lot in common (Amigas,
babes, music, we were both ultra-conservatives), and we took quite a few
road trips, including a memorable one to Boston in the Spring of 1993 to
meet Mary Ryan and Paula Liberman of the Boston Computer Society, and Asha
DeVelder who flew in from the Left Coast for the occasion. Rick had a number
of physical problems and had a lot of bad days, but on the good days he
lived live to the fullest, like a kid in a candy store. Time passed and
so did Commodore and one day in mid 1995 Rick , always faithful to his Amiga, posted a message in the Fido Amiga
echo with Ricardo.Amiga Charter Member, Team AMIGA
in his signature as a joke. This seemed to strike just the right note for
the time and he was deluged with messages from people asking how to join.
Rick jumped on the chance to further the Amiga cause, and soon people from
around the world had *Team Amiga* after their names.
Rick passed away in the Summer of 1996. With the help of Asha and Rick's
brother Larry, the TA database was transferred to the capable hands of Gary
Peake in September, 1996 and I'd like to think that Rick's love of the Amiga lives on in `his' Team.
John Maguire, Sysop
Harbour Lights BBS, Mousam River BBS
Kennebunkport, Maine
December, 1998
