Last week those in the planning community received some very sad news: Richard Hollingsworth lost a year-long battle with pancreatic cancer at age 55. I worked with Richard through the Cal State Long Beach Center for International Trade & Transportation, where I used to serve on the Policy & Steering Committee. Each year the Committee would present a major forum on goods movement issues for the rank and file of the International Longshore & Warehouse Union, and each year Richard was the emcee because he was able to so deftly navigate the divergent agendas of our panelists, not to mention handle a sometimes fractious audience.
Richard was also one of the founding developers of Cal State’s Global Logistics Specialist program. This groundbreaking program has educated many a young person and career changer in the true workings of the global supply chain. Thanks to Richard’s efforts, there are many more knowledgeable people in our area working for a productive goods movement system than there would have been otherwise.
Richard was President of the Gateway Cities Partnership, an economic development corporation devoted to the prosperity of the southeastern part of Los Angeles County – Long Beach included. Early in my planning career at the Southern California Association of Governments, I needed to learn more about the issues surrounding the I-710 freeway and the communities it traverses. Richard was so kind as to spend a great deal of time on the phone educating me – someone he’d never met – on the political and economic landscape of the Gateway Cities area. It wasn’t until later that I realized how central he was to the success of these communities.
At a lovely memorial service in Long Beach Monday I also learned that Richard had worked in transportation and real estate development in Southern California before moving into his latest roles. Once you heard him say a few words, you knew right away he was Irish, but I also hadn’t known that he’d served as chief of staff to the Irish Minister for Industry and Energy before leaving his native country.
At the memorial service, people who knew him better than I did said he was a wonderful cook, an avid consumer of fine wine and beer, and a devoted father. I knew him to be very, very smart; to have a sharp wit; to tolerate no fools; and to be a role model for thoughtful, well-informed, forward-thinking planning. I wish he could have been around longer to teach me more, particularly as I embark on work with the Gateway Cities Council of Governments, where the Board meeting last week adjourned in his memory. Mostly, I’ve been sad ever since I heard the news – sad for his family, and sad for the communities that he served. We were lucky to have him around.