R.I.P. RICHH

Undertoad · 06-28-2002, 11:06 AM

I just heard a sad note, that Rich Halberstein died late last year.

RICHH, as he was known, came on the Cellar shortly after it was founded and became one of its most colorful personalities.

RICHH had an incredible talent: he was a writer. But not just any writer... he wrote incredible stories. Many of his tales were full of the most incredibly explicit pornography ever known. But it wasn't just any porn; it was quite different. He avoided every porn story stereotype... not easy to do.

People who read RICHH, whether they read the porn or the "regular" bits or both, knew that he had a very special talent. His writing was really compelling and direct. He had a first-person narrative style all his own. Which was part of the problem: he would never fit into the editing of the real world. I urged him to submit to places like the New Yorker, and he said at one point that he had, but he was clearly too far ahead of his time.

How far ahead? It took the release of "There's Something About Mary" for the US audience to realize that it was highly susceptible to half-pornographic, gross-out humor, and that was probably the first time the world took a turn in RICHH's direction.

The Cellar gave him his first net access and with it, his relationship with talk.bizarre that would finally end in the development of his very own newsgroup, alt.butt.harp. The group's name came from one of his most explicit stories.

I met RICHH twice, once at a Cellar get-together at Philly's Reading Terminal Market, the other time for a dinner at a local brewery. He kept much of the details of his life a mystery; he alleged that he made a living at gambling on football, but we never figured out whether he was serious. In person, he didn't really match up with his stories; for example, he was in a wheelchair, which he managed extremely well with, but it clearly was not part of the RICHH image.

At the same time, he was clearly a guy who saw things that the rest of us didn't. I was in the area where he went to college, and I was surprised to see a local bar ("Barangus") that he'd written about. Surely his story wasn't true, but I liked to think that he had seen the place and let his imagination run with it.

RICHH spent a good 4-5 years here, but dropped off after he decided to move to the west coast. From time to time we would hear bits from him, but even his participation in his own newsgroup eventually dropped off.

You can still find RICHH's material, out there on the web in various archives. Google search for "richh archives". Unfortunately this isn't the best way to read him; his stuff is kinda uneven, and much of it is really meant to be consumed in the context of the newsgroups where he originally posted much of it.

<i>Bye man, and thanks for all the stories.</i>

vsp · 06-28-2002, 12:26 PM

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRGH. A prince of the freak kingdom has left us.

Search Google Groups for "richh@netcom.com" in combination with talk.bizarre and alt.butt.harp, for in-context gems from his past.

(Of course, if you're going to dig through talk.bizarre, bring a lunch and stay for the day. It was and is a spawning pit for some of the most creative, twisted and ludicrous writing and humor ever seen on USENET, if you follow it long enough to find the signal within the noise -- and learn which noise is intentional noise.)

jeff. who keeps a teeny t.b archive, which is rendered superfluous by the return of Deja archives to Google, and I removed the Roger Carasso bits at his request.

MaggieL · 06-28-2002, 01:18 PM

I kind of came in in the middle of RICHH's reign at theCellar; and played catch-up from there on out. But he was always a force to be reckoned with, and I'm saddened to hear of his passing.

SteveDallas · 06-28-2002, 01:28 PM

oh what a bummer

For me, the hallmark of richh's writing was not simply that it was explicit (usually eye-openingly so), but that it was humorous. There was always an element of snide humor, sometimes very subtle, in his stories. My favorite one was where he noticed two girls at Border's being um, intimate, and interrupted them so he could direct them to the lesbian book section. And I seem to recall one involving a pizza delivery guy that was also quite humorous. Of course, the Butt Harp episode will always be his trademark.

BrianR · 06-28-2002, 02:38 PM

I too am saddened to hear of his passing. I knew him fairly well, possibly better than anyone here.

He and I hung out together sometimes and he was influential on my own writings. I can't vouch for the football betting but I have enjoyed his antics in public and he was possibly the only person who could embarrass me anywhere he chose. Ya gotta admire talent like that.

I lost track of him when he moved to Oregon (or somewhere out there) and always wished I could talk to him again but I never seemed to connect with him. I thought it might be divine providence and didn't tempt fate. Now I wish I had.

Rest in peace, Rich my friend. I'll see you on the other side.

Brian

PS The pizza guy story is true, folks. I am a witness.

PPS How did he pass anyway? Where might I find his obit?

vsp · 06-28-2002, 03:49 PM

Obit:

http://www.phillyburbs.com/courierti...ts/1094793.htm

BrianR · 06-29-2002, 06:19 PM

Thank you, VSP

Damn I miss his sense of humour. The only one more twisted than mine.

Brian

seer · 06-29-2002, 11:21 PM

I've always had a habit on bad day... when the day seemed to go on too long, too sad, too crazy, I would always read a story or three of his and it would always make me smile, laugh.

I have a bunch of stuff from my old philly bbs, Time Enough For Love, and stories posted here on the Cellar. Now I will collect all of them and make my own online archive of RICHH stories, along with a link to his obit.

Thank you, Tony. Thank you very much.

Seer

tw · 06-29-2002, 11:26 PM

His stories were always too interesting to be real and yet read like you were there as it happened. It was amazing how he made a story so free flowing and natural. I had always assumed he moved on to professional writing because of how easily one could become so comfortable with how he wrote. Indeed his death is a sad event.

dbright · 07-09-2002, 09:26 PM

Wow, this is enough to make me delurk.

Richh was actually the first guy I ever met from BBSland. He introduced me to the KAOS/IAI/Cellar crowd and managed to even write me a bit part in the KAOS saga.

After reading enough of his material I, for some reason, thought it'd be a good idea to compile all his stories from Low Budget BBS and here and distribute them throughout my high school. By the end of the day Richh had become something of an underground legend there -- one English teacher read the Jeopardy story to his class. As a matter of fact, I think Richh even alluded to this incident in a later story.

Anyhow, the common thread seems to be that we all lost contact with him after he moved out to the west coast. Every once in awhile I'd to a brisk googling to try to figure out what had become of him but he seemed to have just disappeared. I guess now we know -- how sad.

Thanks for the stories, buddy.

doug (Boobie)

(Once at the base of the stairs at the Gallery someone asked him what he did about stairs. "I go up them.")

06-28-2002, 11:06 AM	#1
Undertoad Radical Centrist Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Cottage of Prussia Posts: 31,423	R.I.P. RICHH I just heard a sad note, that Rich Halberstein died late last year. RICHH, as he was known, came on the Cellar shortly after it was founded and became one of its most colorful personalities. RICHH had an incredible talent: he was a writer. But not just any writer... he wrote incredible stories. Many of his tales were full of the most incredibly explicit pornography ever known. But it wasn't just any porn; it was quite different. He avoided every porn story stereotype... not easy to do. People who read RICHH, whether they read the porn or the "regular" bits or both, knew that he had a very special talent. His writing was really compelling and direct. He had a first-person narrative style all his own. Which was part of the problem: he would never fit into the editing of the real world. I urged him to submit to places like the New Yorker, and he said at one point that he had, but he was clearly too far ahead of his time. How far ahead? It took the release of "There's Something About Mary" for the US audience to realize that it was highly susceptible to half-pornographic, gross-out humor, and that was probably the first time the world took a turn in RICHH's direction. The Cellar gave him his first net access and with it, his relationship with talk.bizarre that would finally end in the development of his very own newsgroup, alt.butt.harp. The group's name came from one of his most explicit stories. I met RICHH twice, once at a Cellar get-together at Philly's Reading Terminal Market, the other time for a dinner at a local brewery. He kept much of the details of his life a mystery; he alleged that he made a living at gambling on football, but we never figured out whether he was serious. In person, he didn't really match up with his stories; for example, he was in a wheelchair, which he managed extremely well with, but it clearly was not part of the RICHH image. At the same time, he was clearly a guy who saw things that the rest of us didn't. I was in the area where he went to college, and I was surprised to see a local bar ("Barangus") that he'd written about. Surely his story wasn't true, but I liked to think that he had seen the place and let his imagination run with it. RICHH spent a good 4-5 years here, but dropped off after he decided to move to the west coast. From time to time we would hear bits from him, but even his participation in his own newsgroup eventually dropped off. You can still find RICHH's material, out there on the web in various archives. Google search for "richh archives". Unfortunately this isn't the best way to read him; his stuff is kinda uneven, and much of it is really meant to be consumed in the context of the newsgroups where he originally posted much of it. <i>Bye man, and thanks for all the stories.</i>

06-28-2002, 01:18 PM	#3
MaggieL in the Hour of Scampering Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Jeffersonville PA (15 mi NW of Philadelphia) Posts: 4,060	I kind of came in in the middle of RICHH's reign at theCellar; and played catch-up from there on out. But he was always a force to be reckoned with, and I'm saddened to hear of his passing. __________________ "Neither can his Mind be thought to be in Tune,whose words do jarre; nor his reason In frame, whose sentence is preposterous..."

06-28-2002, 02:38 PM	#5
BrianR Cleverly disguised as a responsible adult Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Dallas, TX Posts: 3,338	Alas! Poor RichH. I knew him, Horatio! I too am saddened to hear of his passing. I knew him fairly well, possibly better than anyone here. He and I hung out together sometimes and he was influential on my own writings. I can't vouch for the football betting but I have enjoyed his antics in public and he was possibly the only person who could embarrass me anywhere he chose. Ya gotta admire talent like that. I lost track of him when he moved to Oregon (or somewhere out there) and always wished I could talk to him again but I never seemed to connect with him. I thought it might be divine providence and didn't tempt fate. Now I wish I had. Rest in peace, Rich my friend. I'll see you on the other side. Brian PS The pizza guy story is true, folks. I am a witness. PPS How did he pass anyway? Where might I find his obit? __________________ Never be afraid to tell the world who you are. -- Anonymous Last edited by BrianR; 06-28-2002 at 03:36 PM.

06-29-2002, 06:19 PM	#7
BrianR Cleverly disguised as a responsible adult Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Dallas, TX Posts: 3,338	Thank you, VSP Damn I miss his sense of humour. The only one more twisted than mine. Brian __________________ Never be afraid to tell the world who you are. -- Anonymous

06-29-2002, 11:21 PM	#8
seer Provocateur Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Eureka, CA Posts: 9	I miss you RICHH... I've always had a habit on bad day... when the day seemed to go on too long, too sad, too crazy, I would always read a story or three of his and it would always make me smile, laugh. I have a bunch of stuff from my old philly bbs, Time Enough For Love, and stories posted here on the Cellar. Now I will collect all of them and make my own online archive of RICHH stories, along with a link to his obit. Thank you, Tony. Thank you very much. Seer

06-28-2002, 12:26 PM	#2
vsp Syndrome of a Down Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: West Chester Posts: 1,367	ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRGH. A prince of the freak kingdom has left us. Search Google Groups for "richh@netcom.com" in combination with talk.bizarre and alt.butt.harp, for in-context gems from his past. (Of course, if you're going to dig through talk.bizarre, bring a lunch and stay for the day. It was and is a spawning pit for some of the most creative, twisted and ludicrous writing and humor ever seen on USENET, if you follow it long enough to find the signal within the noise -- and learn which noise is intentional noise.) jeff. who keeps a teeny t.b archive, which is rendered superfluous by the return of Deja archives to Google, and I removed the Roger Carasso bits at his request.

06-28-2002, 01:28 PM	#4
SteveDallas Your Bartender Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Philly Burbs, PA Posts: 7,651	oh what a bummer For me, the hallmark of richh's writing was not simply that it was explicit (usually eye-openingly so), but that it was humorous. There was always an element of snide humor, sometimes very subtle, in his stories. My favorite one was where he noticed two girls at Border's being um, intimate, and interrupted them so he could direct them to the lesbian book section. And I seem to recall one involving a pizza delivery guy that was also quite humorous. Of course, the Butt Harp episode will always be his trademark.

06-28-2002, 03:49 PM	#6
vsp Syndrome of a Down Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: West Chester Posts: 1,367	Obit: http://www.phillyburbs.com/courierti...ts/1094793.htm

06-29-2002, 11:26 PM	#9
tw Read? I only know how to write. Join Date: Jan 2001 Posts: 11,933	His stories were always too interesting to be real and yet read like you were there as it happened. It was amazing how he made a story so free flowing and natural. I had always assumed he moved on to professional writing because of how easily one could become so comfortable with how he wrote. Indeed his death is a sad event.

07-09-2002, 09:26 PM	#10
dbright Kinda New Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Posts: 1	Wow, this is enough to make me delurk. Richh was actually the first guy I ever met from BBSland. He introduced me to the KAOS/IAI/Cellar crowd and managed to even write me a bit part in the KAOS saga. After reading enough of his material I, for some reason, thought it'd be a good idea to compile all his stories from Low Budget BBS and here and distribute them throughout my high school. By the end of the day Richh had become something of an underground legend there -- one English teacher read the Jeopardy story to his class. As a matter of fact, I think Richh even alluded to this incident in a later story. Anyhow, the common thread seems to be that we all lost contact with him after he moved out to the west coast. Every once in awhile I'd to a brisk googling to try to figure out what had become of him but he seemed to have just disappeared. I guess now we know -- how sad. Thanks for the stories, buddy. doug (Boobie) (Once at the base of the stairs at the Gallery someone asked him what he did about stairs. "I go up them.")

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