To Richard, in loving memory.

April 14, Farmington.

Our friend Richard Tuck, a gem of a man and a great circus fan, has died of cancer.
I am angry at the gods that take such a beautiful person away, leaving so many of us without the smile he gave us. He was generosity towards all, misfits and left-behinds, rich and poor, children and their grandmothers, people from here and from there, people from anywhere in this big wide world he embraced with insatiable gusto. He was loving life, his tremendous love of life, he was passion for the circus, which he supported in many ways, including landing a hand if he could to whichever circus performer needed it, he was laughter and dedication, he was an inspiration. You couldn't stop Richard, his generosity vanquished all, his mirth and fervor gathered all.
He was a good man, in the full sense of the word.
I'm sure he had some bad sides, like all of us, but we never got to see any of them. We only saw the scope of his spirit.
When Circus Chimera closed suddenly in the spring of 2007 he offered that we park our trailer in the parking lot of his office in El Cerrito, near San Francisco, and so we had the privilege of living at his side for a few months. Before us another circus person, Mike, the booking guy for Chimera, had been offered the same thing, and had stayed a few years. We used to joke that, if things went for us as they did for him, when Dylan and Nicolas would go to school and the teacher would ask them where they lived, they would answer "in Richard's parking lot."
It was a few enchanted months.
There was always a party, there was also constant work unfolding on his life project, Playland not-at-the-Beach, an amusement park that he dreamed up and built, in the back part of his office space, with his friends Frank and Tim and so many other volunteering their time because Richard would inspire you to do that, and which was modeled on the famous Playland at the Beach seaside park in San Francisco. There was always a smile, cookies and cake (he was famously rotund,) a joke, amid serious work and dreams being built. Friends would pop up at any time and would be always welcomed.
When he was told he had terminal cancer and only had a few months to live his reply was to laugh at the gods and not change a thing. "I'm going to party and have fun and if I only have months to go, what a way to live them!"
We are not alone in mourning our friend Richard but it doesn't make us any less sad.
Oh but no, that won't do.
We love you, Richard, and you're laughing along with us still.