Former Banner contributor and freelance writer dies

Richard F. Thorpe of Massachusetts, who worked as a freelance writer and contributed to several Boston-based publications, died from complications related to leukemia January 27, 2006 at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. He was 44.

Mr. Thorpe, a Cambridge resident, was born in Manhattan and spent the first few years of his life in Trenton, New Jersey before his family moved to Sharon, Massachusetts, in 1966. Mr. Thorpe graduated from Sharon High School in 1979. He was a 1984 graduate the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, where he obtained a bachelor’s degree in communications.

As a freelance writer for The Boston Globe, Mr. Thorpe contributed more than 300 music reviews and several articles. In addition to working as a community reporter for the Bay State Banner, Mr. Thorpe also wrote stories for The Christian Science Monitor, the Boston Business Journal, India New England and other publications.

From an early age, Mr. Thorpe was a music lover, and he enjoyed reading books and learning about the life of Barry Gordy, the founder of Motown, and he enjoyed reading books written by Cornell West and Denis Kimbro. Mr. Thorpe further developed his passion for writing and music while in college. He worked for Drum Magazine and Nummo News at UMASS and he also worked as a disk jockey under the name “Dr. Funk” at the campus radio station. Mr. Thorpe’s extensive knowledge of music would later lead to his prolific work writing music reviews for The Boston Globe.

Most recently, Mr. Thorpe worked as a consultant for Emerson College on a project that led to the establishment of the school’s Center for Diversity in the Communications Industries. In 2005, he edited the book, “The Majestic Crane: An African American Girl’s Unique Journey to Asian Culture,” which was written by Mr. Thorpe’s wife, Rochelle O’Neal Thorpe, a native of Oklahoma City.

The Majestic Crane: An African American Girl’s Unique Journey to Asian Culture was inspired by the couple’s 8-week trip to China in 2003. While in China, they taught English to school children and their teachers in the city of Shuang Ya Shan (Double Duck Mountain City), Hei Long Jiang Province. They also taught the children African American history, especially about Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X.

Prior to traveling to China, Richard opened the company RTA Communications in 1996, and later created the DBA 100 Words Incorporated where he and Rochelle provided marketing and public relations services to entrepreneurs and small businesses like Long Bay Management, Karl Nurse Communications, and WebCTel, as well as Polaroid, Digital Equipment Corporation, Compaq and the office of attorney Neil Osborne.

Survivors include his wife, Rochelle (Oklahoma); their child, Gabriel and two stepchildren, Nathaniel and Misha, and his mother-in-law, Betty Jean Watkins O’Neal (Davenport, Oklahoma). He also leaves behind his mother, Lucy W. Thorpe, who resides in Voorhees, New Jersey, and a sister, Barbara L. Thorpe, who lives in Boston, Massachusetts. Aunt and Uncle, Francis E. and Ruby Walters of Danvers, Massachusetts, cousins Greg Walters of Bedford, Dianne Walters and Lawrence (Jajah) Smith of Roxbury, Massachusetts. He will be missed by a host of other close relatives, friends and colleagues.

A memorial service will be held on March 4 at 1 p.m. at the Davis Funeral Home, 89 Walnut Avenue, in Roxbury. A repast and memorial celebration will be held at the First Church of Cambridge, 11 Garden Street, Cambridge, near the campus of Harvard University.

Donations can be made to the Deval Patrick Campaign for Governor in his honor or to Rochelle O’Neal Thorpe at 115 Clifton Street, Cambridge, 02140.