“You can’t afford an ugly thing at any price.”
~ Richard Gump
Richard Gump was very influential in our family as I was growing up. In addition to employing my father Harry and giving him a unique opportunity to develop his international business acumen at GUMP’S, Richard was a very intelligent, thoughtful, accomplished and cultured man who was an author of GOOD TASTE COSTS NO MORE and JADE: STONE OF HEAVEN. Richard Gump exuded a sense of confidence he actually earned and deserved. His depth of knowledge across a wide variety of subjects was remarkable. He flowed, whether it was playing music, painting watercolors, sketching, or exploring how diverse subjects were ultimately related. I remember every conversation with Richard Gump as an adventure in discovering what triggered curiosity – it was a joy and inspiring. He had an incredible memory and would always explore historical influences, then consider what might have been if events had taken a different course. He took joy in bringing to light how seemingly little things early on could influence the trajectory of developments and make a big difference in the way things ultimately played out. Every conversation with Mr. Gump would lead to learning more about a subject and realizing that nothing was in a silo – everything was connected to a web of developments that once looked at comprehensively, was related to everything else. We saw the world the same way – were attracted to the same things, whether it was the sea (he invited me to his home in Moorea, Tahiti which he left to U.C. Berkeley for marine research), Japanese aesthetic, tropical islands or celadon glazes. He was one of the few adults that had a view of life that made sense to me. I was lucky to have spent time with him.