Richard Biggs ... King of Convention Guests

I got to meet Richard Biggs through an extraordinary lady, Shirley DiDomenico. As a retired teacher I had the pleasure of running a series of media conventions that featured film and TV stars who would help in education programs. “Aunt Shirley” as we called her, told us about Richard and we invited him to a convention we called Rising Star. He attended six and then when we went on to a purer media convention we created, Starz 2000, he joined us for that too.

In all the conventions we ran he was one of our most popular guests and it was at the demand of fans that we kept having him return. Richard's sense of humor and loving attitude toward fans kept people at his autograph table from opening to closing times. Especially memorable were the celebrity memorabilia auctions that he emceed. They were funny and they raised more money for charity than any thing else we did. He wouldn’t get off the stage until he was guaranteed that enough money was made for scholarships and for Deanna Lund’s anti abuse program, Victims of Violence No More. He himself made generous contributions of memorabilia from the hit TV series Babylon 5.

Also memorable was the banquets we had each year. One year Richard used me as his guinea pig in demonstrating the difference between soap opera and science fiction fans. I became him and he acted out the roles of each fan which brought down the house. At another banquet Richard led a group of fans and stars in the YMCA dance number which he produced. Generous, giving, kind, affable, friendly, there are not enough adjectives to describe him. Had there not been a Richard Biggs we would have had to invent him as he made all of our lives better for knowing him. I for one look forward to being reunited with him in Heaven where he may well be auctioning off harps, wings, and halos as a fund raiser. Of course funds won’t be needed in Heaven, but I am sure God will delight in seeing Richard in action as much as we have.
Fred R. Eichelman, Ed.D.