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Richard B. Kaplan ’64

Richard B. Kaplan ’64, November 14, 1993, in Los Angeles. After graduating from Reed, he attended Yale Law School and received an LLB in 1967. He joined the firm of Kaplan, Livingston, Berkowitz, and Selvin in Los Angeles, where Richard specialized in entertainment industry transactional matters. In 1983, he opened his own office as a sole practitioner. In 1979, Richard was invited to join the board of directors of an independent bank in its organizational stages, which opened for business in 1982 as the Bank of Los Angeles and had three branches by 1989. In that year, he and his partner started a business, importing furniture and design accessories from the Philippines and exporting heavy industrial equipment. Richard was also a committed activist in the gay rights movement: he served on the board of directors of the Los Angeles gay and lesbian community political action committee and was elected co-chair of that group in 1978. He was also active in promoting a significant governmental response to the AIDS epidemic. In 1992, he was a five-time winner on the television quiz show, Jeopardy! He is survived by his parents, Gene and Leon Kaplan; and his domestic partner of 14 years.

Appeared in Reed magazine: February 1994