Tropical Fish Hobbyist

six of those each from about 50 people, some of them ichthyologists, from all around the land.

These ichthyologists included such cichlid luminaries as George Barlow, Arthur Myrberg, and ichthyologists (then) in-training like Paul V. Loiselle and Bill Bussing. He also recruited advanced hobbyists from around the country, a roster that reads now like a Who’s Who of noted cichlidophiles/aquarists: Al Klee (of course), Jim Langhammer, and Ross Socolof, to name a few.

In those days, there were hardly any cichlid books in English, only a couple of small pamphlets put out by T.F.H. Publications. Most of the major books were in German. So I used the German word for cichlid, Buntbarsche, in my salutation to the fold, starting the first bulletin as “Buntbarsche Buddies.” Being a teacher at the time, I ran the bulletins off on a ditto machine. The pages had to be assembled, stapled, and stuffed in envelopes. My wife was a good enough sport to help me do this, after the children were in bed....

Probably less than a year had passed from the time I started the little group until I was given some administrative duties at my school as vice principal...this situation made it difficult for me to keep up with my ACA duties, as I was functioning primarily as an editor of a growing publication. I’m not sure that there is a more difficult job in any organization. Fortunately, a very respected hobbyist, Guy D. Jordan, volunteered to take over the workings of the organization for me. He was perfect for the job. He was well known, and he had a vast correspondence. All this was important, for the association was growing rapidly.

Growing exponentially is more like it, driven by the sudden mania over Rift Lake cichlids, principally those from Lake Nyasa (now Malawi) and later, Lake Tanganyika. There was a need for good information and for exchange of fish, particularly if you lived in the hinterlands, which was anywhere besides the New York/New Jersey import hub.

Though he passed on the duties of editor to another icon of the American Cichlid Hobby, Guy Jordan, the ACA may not have ever come to be without Dick’s enthusiasm and initial jump-start. And that is not to say that Dick abandoned the organization he started by passing on the role of editor to Guy. It was quite the contrary: he remained very active in the organization, giving it a voice and public presence through his many articles and T.F.H. books, and always proselytized on behalf of his beloved cichlids. The first of his numerous articles appeared around 1963 in The Aquarium, and later in Aquarium Illustrated, Aquarium Journal, Aquarium Fish Magazine, Tropical Fish Hobbyist, and of course, Buntbarsche Bulletin. He has authored more than 11 books over the years, most of them on cichlids and most of them for T.F.H. He has also, in a more general sense, been a marvelous cheerleader on behalf of this great hobby of ours (Dick’s other aquarium-hobby love is marine fish; being a true Southern Californian, he still dives), which has clearly shone through in his thoughtful and upbeat answers to hobbyists in the TFH Q&A department over these many years.

His service to the ACA has also been constant and invaluable. In 1995, Dick was proclaimed a Fellow of the American Cichlid Association, the ACA’s highest accolade for its members, in acknowledgment of his pivotal role in the inception and development of the organization. In 1990, Dick took on the helm of the ACA’s Guy D. Jordan Endowment Fund, established in 1984 in memory

Wayne Leibel

Dick and his wife Stephanie circa 2000 in Rosario LaCorte’s fishroom. Stephanie died earlier this year after bravely fighting a long illness with Dick by her side.