A Memoir of Richard Larsen

Wisconsin's Civil War community lost one of its own a few days back with the passing of Dick Larsen. He was active in a couple of organizations and was a key figure in the reprinting of Quiner's The Military History of Wisconsin in the War for the Union. It is hard to image a world without Dick Larsen in it. He was such a powerful life force—a man of honesty, intelligence, laughter, and straightforward decency. How I would enjoy our wide-ranging conversations on a dozen topics. Sometimes we were serious, but more often we laughed, mainly at ourselves. His interest in history was always compelling. I tried to find a word or phrase to describe him and the one that comes to mind is from Wisconsin lumbering days—a time in which he had an interest. In those days, when the logs were floated down river to the mills, the piney camp boys wanted men around them they could count on because the work was exceedingly dangerous. Dick was one those kind of men—a “man to ride the river with.” I will miss him.