Richard Turner 1927-2019

Richard Turner passed away on March 16, 2019, two months shy of his 92nd birthday.

Richard was a member of the PPAGLA for more than four decades. In his early career he worked for AMCE Newspictures, which in 1953 became United Press International. Richard was UPI’s regional photographer covering Ventura and Santa Barbara counties. He also worked at the Oxnard Press-Courier, the Hollywood Citizen News, the Los Angeles Examiner, and the Los Angeles Daily News.

Richard’s career as a public relations specialist, writer, photographer, and educator spanned 55 years.

In his early career, Richard headed the photographic department of a Los Angeles public relations agency. One of his PR projects was the 1971 reconstruction of the London Bridge in Lake Havasu, AZ. Richard left the agency to start his own freelance photography business specializing in PR work, feature and editorial writing, and accompanying photography.

In 1975, Amphoto Publishing published his book “Focus on Sports: Photographing Action.” The book is still available on Amazon today.

Richard wrote over 500 articles on an array of topics including sports photography and travel feature stories.  One highlight of his career was covering the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.  He enjoyed gymnastics and track and field events.

Richard was a contributing columnist for the Automobile Club of Southern California’s Westways Magazine for more than a decade.

He was also a long-time supporter of PPAGLA’s Past Presidents and Retired Members Scholarship Fund. 

Richard’s love of photography led to instructing photojournalism and basic photography at Pierce College, California State University Northridge, and UCLA Extension. He helped launch many of his students in professional careers as photojournalists in the print media field.

Richard was an old school film shooter, retiring in the mid-nineties just as digital was becoming popular.

Richard was born on May 29, 1927, in Chicago, Illinois to Maurice and Rose Turner, and served in the United States Navy during World War II. He went to LACC between 1947-1949 and received his AA in Journalism from LACC in 1949. Richard took classes through UCLA Extension from 1976-1978 to earn credit for his BA in Journalism from I.H. He went to Immaculate Heart College in Los Angeles from 1978-1980 and received his BA in 1980

Richard is survived by his wife, Beverly; daughters, Janet and Nancy; and son, Michael. He was the grandfather of Laura and Ryan, and great grandfather to Alice and Lucy.

In lieu of flowers the family requests that donations be made in Richard Turner’s name via PayPal to the Richard Turner Student Scholarship Fund at www.ppagla.org/donate, or by mailing a check payable to PPAGLA Richard Turner Scholarship Fund, 861 Brown Drive, Burbank, CA 91504-1838.