Born July 27, 1950, in Melrose, Massachusetts. The son of Clyde and Phyllis Hilton.

Attended Emerson College as a Communications major. Met Chris (Christine Ruggelo), an art teacher at MassArt, who introduced him to pottery.

Started making pottery in the basement of their apartment in Melrose. It was small, and the kiln barely fit, but it was a beginning.

Drove north to Maine and found the red schoolhouse on Route 27 in Edgecomb. No running water. No heat. He bought it anyway. Showered at a YMCA twenty minutes away.

A stranger stopped on the way to Boothbay Harbor and told him about a new market opening in Boston. "You need to come down. We're starting something called Faneuil Hall."

Became one of the first artists at Faneuil Hall Marketplace — threw pottery in Edgecomb, drove it to his parents' garage in Melrose, hauled it to Boston, sold it piece by piece.

Built the kiln shed, then the gallery. Developed hundreds of glazes — Copper Red, Kyoto Forest, Marina, Seaglass. A leading ceramic chemist who treated glaze formulation as both science and art.

At its peak: 28 acres, eight kilns, 30+ employees, 400+ artisans represented, 150,000 visitors a season, 1.3 million pieces made by hand. The largest crafts gallery in America by the mid-1990s.

A Kyoto Forest vase was presented as a state gift to the President of Taiwan. The Russian Ambassador selected his work for Portland's sister city, Archangel.

Senator Olympia Snowe entered Edgecomb Potters into the Congressional Record, calling it "a veritable gem in Maine's art world."

Authored Edgecomb Potters the Third Decade (The Marriage of Art and Function), documenting the gallery's history and the craft that built it.

Richard passed away at age 61. He left behind a gallery, a family, hundreds of glazes, and a place that still stands on Route 27.