Richard Barron Parker

was born Oct. 13, 1940 in Houston, TX. and raised in Baldwin, NY.  Always known as Dick to family and friends, he graduated from Baldwin High School in 1958 and Haverford College in 1962.

Dick finished his master’s degree at Brown University and entered the University of Chicago’s Ph.D. program in philosophy, studying moral injustice under Professor Alan Gewirth.  He graduated in 1968.

In 1967 he married Patricia Lawson, a graduate student in English at the University of Chicago.  Their only child, Anne, was born in 1972.

Dick entered Harvard Law School in fall, l968.  While a student, he lectured in General Education and taught sections of Professor Charles Fried’s course on Law and Morality.  His volunteer stint at Harvard Legal Aid taught him more practical aspects of law and morality, as he defended poor women in Boston divorce court.  After graduation in 1971, he became Research Assistant to Professor Paul Freund, where he acquired Prof. Freund’s famous messy desk habit as well as great regard for the Supreme Court and the field of constitutional law.

Between 1971 and 1982, Dick taught at Rutgers Law School and practiced law in Boston.

He then spent a year consulting in a law firm in Seoul, Korea where Pat taught as Fulbright professor, and in 1983 he began his Fulbright teaching year in Sendai, Japan at Tohoku University.  There Dick became fascinated with Japan and its culture.  During his visiting professorship at Osaka University, 1985-87, he became more fully immersed in the culture, studying Japanese language and taking every opportunity to engage in Japanese life.  He became a fan of Japanese food and drink, Japanese gardens, and baths, karaoke, and especially Chiyonofuji, star sumo wrestler.

The last eighteen years of his professional life were spent teaching at Hiroshima Shudo University.   He never missed the cherry blossom festivities in April and the maple leaf colors of fall.  His interest in Japanese arts grew to include the ancient dance-drama form, the Noh, and he often brought foreign guests to Noh performances on Miyajima Island.

Dick retired from Japan in 2008, moved to Falmouth, Maine where he both taught and took classes at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at the University of Southern Maine.   He died in Portland, Maine in 2021.