Richard “Dick” Howard Caulfield died August 19, 2011, in Bloomington, Indiana, following a brief battle with cancer. He was born November 28, 1936, to Howard and Dorothy (Lovelace) Caulfield. Dick grew up in Indianapolis, went to Shortridge High School and received a bachelors and masters in education from Indiana University. He married Betsy Pearson, and they had four children.

Dick was first and foremost a teacher, at the elementary and middle school levels, all the way through graduate school. He was always willing to share his knowledge and experience gained from nearly fifty years of experience. He taught elementary and middle school in Indianapolis, worked as an educational consultant, and was a visiting professor at Indiana University.

Dick was active in the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. He was a Woodrow Wilson Fellow, a Danforth Fellow, a regular presenter at conferences, and a writer for educational testing services and professional journals.

In his free time, Dick enjoyed golfing and watching Indiana University sports. He had season IU football tickets for more than fifty years.

Dick was one of the most generous people who ever lived. If you needed something specific, he would give. If you needed something vague, he would give. If you didn’t think you needed anything, he would give. If you didn’t need anything, he would give. Giving is what he did. Because of this, there are a lot of people walking around with holes in their hearts today.

A memorial service followed by a reception will be held Saturday, August 27, at 11:00am at Trinity Episcopal Church, 111 S. Grant St., Bloomington. Donations in Richard’s name may be sent to Waycross Episcopal Camp, 7363 Bear Creek Road, Morgantown, IN 46160 , or to the IU Foundation/Varsity Club at 1001 E. 17^th St. Bloomington, IN 47408.

We encourage those who cannot come to Bloomington for the service to reserve 11:00 ET on Saturday to spend a few moments thinking about Dick and joining us in spirit.

I’m an irregular blogger. I only post when I feel I have something interesting, clever, funny, or informative to say, but I’m a quiet person, both in person and on paper, and meaningful conversations develop slowly (if at all). My blog forces me to spend time in my head, trying to be poetic, to be a writer that people will want to read. For me, planning a blog post is an enjoyable mind-puzzle–more personal than a Sudoku, more challenging than a crossword, with no wrong answers but with some solutions being much better than others.

I’ve been in my head a lot the past few weeks, but I don’t feel like words are coalescing into anything worthwhile. A part of my life has been crumbling all around me, and I want to pick up the pieces through my writing and create something meaningful and beautiful. Something about my father. My father and I did not agree on very much, but he was a man with a large heart who wanted the best for everyone.

He died of cancer a few days ago. He was diagnosed with cancer only about three weeks earlier. For my family, death has moved swiftly.

I’ll write more when I can think what to say.

This blog post is a lame solution to my current mind-puzzle.  When I come up with something better, you’ll read it here.

Wendy Wetzel has won my blog/facebook name-your-favorit- children’s-story contest and will receive a copy of The Stolen Goldin Violin!

The Goodreads Giveaway winners are:

Katrina Buell, Indiana

Holly Kinsey, Georgia

Sam Pierce, Arkansas

Jo Ashley, North Dakota

Lionel Garcia, California

Their copies of The Stolen Goldin Violin are on the way.  I posted them today!

Thanks for playing and I hope readers enjoy our story!  If you didn’t win and would like to buy a copy, Order Here!