Lorin Morgan-Richards

Lorin Morgan-Richards
Born (1975-02-16) 16 February 1975
Beebetown, Ohio
Occupation Publisher, Author, Cartoonist
Known for Publisher Author Los Angeles St. David's Day Festival Celtic Family Magazine
Spouse(s) Valerie Stoneking
Website http://www.lorinrichards.com

Lorin Morgan-Richards (born 16 February 1975) is an author and illustrator,[1] publisher of Celtic Family Magazine,[2] and founder of the Los Angeles St. David's Day Festival.[3][4] [5][6]

He is known for founding the Los Angeles St. David's Day Festival, one of the largest Welsh festivals of its kind in the United States, and founding the most widely distributed print publication based in the United States about Celtic cultures and interests.[7] In 2014 he won the Eisteddfod Honorary Recognition for Bardic Achievements.

Morgan-Richards was born in Beebetown, Ohio and is of Welsh and Swiss (Amish) descent.[8]

Early life

Richards was raised in an old converted school house in Beebetown, Ohio. His mother (a student of fine art) taught him the basics of drawing and music composition on the family pump organ. Richards also credited his imagination on the plentiful books his family owned, creative isolation, and the sheer number of animals they took care of, many of which he incorporated into his early drawings and writings.[9]

Richards interest in Native American and American Western history began in childhood. “I remember my first book as a child was The Indians Knew by Tillie S. Pine, an early reader from 1965 explaining the cultural ways and historical resourcefulness of Native Americans and how they are applied in the sciences today.”[10]

When Richards entered second grade he was diagnosed with a form of dyslexia that required tutoring through the ninth grade. By his early teens, he was reading and became inspired by Edward Lear, L. Frank Baum, Roald Dahl, and Lewis Carroll; helping him overcome his reading disability.[11]

Richards great ancestor was the 19th century Welsh-American poet Robert Dennison Morgan.[12] Robert's father (Richards direct ancestor) John Morgan left the Tredegar area of Wales and emigrated to southern Ohio in the early part of the 1800s.

Music background

Still photo from NYC Premiere of An Occurrence Remembered directed by Lorin Morgan-Richards, 2001

Between 1993-2003, Richards achieved minor success in producing music projects containing modern dance and theater. In 1999, his solo album ENKI and subsequent live production was based on Zecharia Sitchin's book The Twelfth Planet.[13][14][15] The show premiered in Cleveland, Ohio under the choreography of Michael Medcalf. In 2001, Richards followed the success of ENKI with the production of An Occurrence Remembered, influenced by the metaphysical war writings of Ambrose Bierce. The performance premiered in New York City.[16][17]

Writing career

Cover of A Boy Born from Mold

In 2002, Richards moved to Los Angeles to start over where he refocused his artistic direction into writing and illustrating, which he said "did not need the expenses of my past but only a pen and paper."[18] While his novel Me'ma and the Great Mountain (2012) began drafts as early as 2002, it was Simon Snootle and other small stories that became his first book release in 2009.[19][20]

Stylistically, Richards prefers a pencil and ink approach to his illustrations and his writing often has elements of dark satire.[21]

In 2015 Richards began two weekly cartoons on Steamkat.com, a comic strip site, The Goodbye Family and The Noodle Rut.[22]

Publishing

A Raven Above Press was founded in 2009 by Richards with a focus on printing his illustrated stories and promoting other authors and illustrators of Celtic origin. The press also became a catalyst for producing cultural events and art exhibits. Notably, the Los Angeles St. David's Day Festival.[23] On August 1, 2013, Celtic Family Magazine hit the newsstands with a release party in Cardiff, Wales.[24]

The logo for A Raven Above Press displays a raven atop a bending cypress tree. Model Wednesday Mourning has appeared in the main ad for A Raven Above Press,[25] as well as Morgan-Richards daughter in her Welsh traditional dress.

Bibliography

References

  1. ↑ "An Interview with Lorin Morgan-Richards". AmeriCymru. 2010-08-25. Retrieved 2014-08-05.
  2. ↑ "The Welsh in America". Wales Art Review. 2013-02-27. Retrieved 2014-08-05.
  3. ↑ "Welsh Singing Sensation Meinir Gwilym Makes her American Debut in Hollywood". Welsh Icon News. 2014-01-12. Retrieved 2014-08-05.
  4. ↑ "Richard Burton honored with a star on Hollywood Walk of Fame". Express. 2013-03-01. Retrieved 2014-08-05.
  5. ↑ "St David's Day: Wales Around the World". Daily Post. 2014-02-28. Retrieved 2014-08-05.
  6. ↑ "From Carmarthenshire to Hollywood". Carmarthen Journal. 2014-01-15. Retrieved 2014-08-05.
  7. ↑ "Acclaimed local portrait artist features in US magazine". Isle News. 2014-02-20. Retrieved 2014-08-05.
  8. ↑ "Celts in California". Irish Arts & Entertainment. 2014-07-01. Retrieved 2014-08-05.
  9. ↑ "Celts in California". Irish Arts & Entertainment. 2014-07-01. Retrieved 2014-08-05.
  10. ↑ "Welsh in the Old West: More than you thought" (PDF). British Weekly. 2016-03-26. Retrieved 2016-04-04.
  11. ↑ "Interview with Lorin Morgan-Richards". SteamKat.com. 2016-04-09. Retrieved 2016-04-29.
  12. ↑ Poems of Life, by Robert Dennison Morgan, Columbus, OH: New Franklin Printing Co. VG. 1914
  13. ↑ Scene Magazine, 2000 Scene Magazine Music Awards, Erick Trickey, published April 27, 2000
  14. ↑ Last Sigh Magazine, Enki, by Tek, published May 28, 2000
  15. ↑ The Cleveland Free Times, The Power of ENKI, by Laura DeMarco, Published November 17–23, 1999
  16. ↑ Civil War Times Illustrated, December 2001
  17. ↑ http://www.ambrosebierce.org/journal4zaffino.html Ambrose Bierce Journal
  18. ↑ Gothic Beauty Magazine, Issue 31, 2010
  19. ↑ http://www.dreadcentral.com/reviews/simon-snootle-and-other-small-stories-book Dread Central
  20. ↑ Disdeinen.net, October 13, 2009
  21. ↑ "An Interview with Lorin Morgan-Richards". AmeriCymru. 2010-08-25. Retrieved 2014-08-05.
  22. ↑ http://steamkat.com/
  23. ↑ "Welsh artists to descend on Hollywood this coming St David’s Day". Wales World Wide. 2014-02-10. Retrieved 2014-03-13.
  24. ↑ "Celts in California". Irish Arts & Entertainment. 2014-07-01. Retrieved 2014-08-05.
  25. ↑ http://www.aravenabovepress.org/products/a-raven-above-press-t-shirt
  26. ↑ "The Welsh roots of America’s Wild West gunslingers revealed". Wales Online. 2016-01-20. Retrieved 2016-01-25.

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