Richard Alan Young
Richard's father was at one time a Spanish teacher, as was his uncle, and he visited Mexico frequently from early childhood. A two-year assignment in Ecuador for the U.S. State Department took the family to Quito, high in the Andes in 1954-1955. Homes in Huntsville, Ft. Worth, and later Abilene, made Richard a Texan with a wide prairie upbringing and a Hispanic flair.
Moving to Siloam Springs, Arkansas, in 1959 -- with his father taking a prestigious place at a small evangelical university -- Richard graduated from the local high school in 1963.
In five years at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, Richard earned a BA in Romance Languages and an MA in the Humanities. Taking an immediate teaching position during the teacher shortage of the late sixties, he taught high school Spanish from graduation in 1968 until 1993 at Harrison, Arkansas.
In 1973 Richard began summer seasons at Dogpatch, USA, theme park near Jasper, Arkansas, where he rose in seven seasons to become Character Director. When financial troubles hit Dogpatch, he moved first to the Great Passion Play in Eureka Springs, then to Silver Dollar City theme park outside Branson, Missouri. Working summer seasons from 1980 to the present, Richard retired from teaching in 1993 to pursue acting and storytelling full-time.
Married to Judy Elaine Dockrey March 27, 1982, Richard has co-authored nine books , performs on nine audio tapes and four video tapes. As a storyteller, Richard has performed at schools, churches, libraries, universities, symposia, and festivals since 1983. He represented Arkansas at the regional Concert of the National Storytelling Conference in San Antonio, Texas, in 1992. He and Judy Appeared on Storytellers' Theater on the Americana Network in 1993.
revised 15 September MM
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