RSB Books

Richard Schwartz Writer, Historian

Home Page | Speaking Dates | Links | Send email to Richard

 Richard Schwartz Biography

Richard Schwartz grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 1968 at Central High School he won  varsity football's "Team Award" and was the undefeated Pennsylvania State Fencing Champion in 1969. Schwartz graduated from Temple University in 1973 with a bachelor's degree in English literature. For two years while at Temple he worked on a Pennsylvania Dutch farm eleven hours a day, three days a week.

He came to Berkeley in 1973 and formed the New World Trio, an acoustical jazz trio with Eric Vaughan (Godson of Sarah Vaughan) on piano, Samahdi Aheshma (played with Miles Davis at sixteen years old) on bass, and himself on drums. He also played in Abukar, a Berkeley Latin jazz sextet, and taught drums in a Berkeley after school program.

In 1976 Schwartz joined the U.S. Forest Service to fight fires in the Sierra. It was during this time that he came across an ancient sixty-five foot stone circle near Truckee. His curiosity about this configuration led to his first book, "The Circle of Stones," a nonfiction archeological mystery.

Schwartz has written articles for the Alameda County Historical Society, the Berkeley Historical Society, the Truckee Historical Society, and the Bay Area Rock Art Research Association on this and other Native American and American historical topics. He has given book readings for The Circle of Stones at bookstores and historical societies.

In 1982 Schwartz earned his General Building Contractors license from the State of California, where he is also certified to condemn and examine buildings for the State after an earthquake. He continues through the present to be active in the construction trades and has specialized in earthquake retrofitting and drainage work.

In the early 1990s he joined a Brazilian samba school and played in San Francisco and Oakland Carnivals. In 1992 he traveled to Brazil and studied Afro Brazilian drumming with drummer Carlinios Brown. He co-led Orixa Ba Ba of San Francisco on billings that included Ray Charles and Tower of Power. The group also performed on KQED television.

In 1996 Schwartz was at the Berkeley Historical Society when a stack of Berkeley newspapers circa 1900 was about to be discarded by the Society and he rescued the newspapers by taking them home. These rescued Berkeley Gazettes became the basis for the book "Berkeley 1900." Richard Schwartz put four years into the research, writing, and production of "Berkeley 1900" and published it himself. "Berkeley 1900" was on the East Bay Best Sellers List in the East Bay Express for ten months. The book was chosen by the San Francisco Chronicle as one of ten Holiday Gift Books in 2000.

Schwartz released "Earthquake Exodus, 1906" in November, 2005. It is the only book to focus on the refugees instead of the disaster. Mayor Tom Bates of Berkeley has already utilized the research in the book to comment in the San Francisco Chronicle on the response to Katrina. Schwartz presented a Certificate of Honor from San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom to the citizens of Berkeley for Berkelyeans' role in saving the lives of tens of thousands of refugees from the San Francisco 1906 Earthquake. The book was featured on many local TV and radio stations and even included international recognition in Europe.

In July of 2007, Schwartz released the book, "Eccentrics, Heroes, and Cutthroats of Old Berkeley" which documents the lives of seventeen men and women who were famous in their day (1850-1925), but have been all but forgotten in our modern world. It was these colorful pioneers that gave Berkeley its original character and their stories will be well utilized by our current citizens. The reviews and citizen feedback and appreciation of this latest work have been the most significant to date for Schwartz. "Eccentrics, Heroes, and Cutthroats of Old Berkeley" was picked as a 2007-2008 Holday Gift Book Pick by the "San Francisco Chronicle," and "Alameda Magazine," and the staffs at Pegasis Books and Cody's Books also singled out the book as one of their favorites for the holidays. Schwartz continues to give illustrated talks on history as well as continuing his career as a California building contractor.