Richard Mason

Richard lived the part of Richard in The Red Scarf growing up on a small farm in South Arkansas. His childhood days were spent roaming through the woods and up and down the creeks outside of his hometown of Norphlet. For several years Richard was the Norphlet paperboy, delivering the El Dorado Daily News, The Arkansas Gazette, and The Shreveport Times. Many of the incidents in the novel are based on the antics of Richard and his friends.

 

Richard has been writing since his time in Libya, when, with nothing but time on his hands, he spent hours in a hot trailer, writing in longhand his first novel. Since that time he has written numerous guest columns in various papers, and while president of the Wildlife Federation he authored “The President’s Column”. For several years, after stepping down as president of the Wildlife Federation, he wrote a statewide column, “Natural Solutions.” The Red Scarf is Richard’s debut novel, but other writings, including a sequel, are in the works.

 

He is an avid collector of antique maps of the south and southwest. His collection has been on display numerous times, and it is considered one of the top collections in the south. Richard’s other primary interests have to do with historic preservation. Together, with his wife Vertis, they have restored 17 commercial buildings in downtown El Dorado, Arkansas and have received numerous awards. 

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