When I chose Rich Moon as the subject for my project, I thought that I would have little to no trouble getting in contact with his family to ask some questions. I understood that it might be a touchy subject, but I knew that I would handle it with care and be respectful. Didn't matter. I could not get one of them to talk to me about anything. There is a Rich Moon fan site on Facebook; it's a private group that consists of Portsmouth residents and his family members. Whenever the conversation on there would start to veer towards the "acid story", his family would quickly rebuke it. They denied that drugs had played any part in his behavior and left it at that. I asked friends and family of mine, but they basically had heard the same urban legend so they weren't much help either.
Then I got lucky. I wrote on the wall of Rich's Facebook page and asked for help. A girl that was an acquaintance of mine messaged me and said that she would help with what she could. I was excited that someone had responded, I had no idea that she was going to be such a wealth of information! *Sarah had a lot to say about Rich. She had worked at a restaurant on one of the roads that is Rich's main walking path. Sarah told me that she would invite him in and feed him from time to time. Rich never spoke much beyond gibberish and mostly kept to himself, but he always seemed grateful for a hot meal. Sarah also lived on this road and she eventually started inviting Rich into her house from time to time. She told me that she never felt threatened in the least by him and he was always nice to her. She also told me that when she told her parents about Rich they immediately knew who she was referring to because a) everyone knows Rich Moon and b) her great aunt had been married to Rich's dad so there was a family connection. Sarah would give him her boyfriend's old clothes along with food and coffee. She said he still didn't speak much until one night they smoked an illegal substance (a marijuana cigarette) with Rich. Sarah said it was amazing! Rich became clear and focused like a fog had been lifted from his head; she asked him questions and he answered. Seeing this as her one chance to maybe find out if the urban legend was true she asked him and here's what he said: During his college years he was caught by the cops with acid. To avoid the charges he ate an entire sheet and it all went downhill from there.
After Sarah told me this she called her grandmother who said the same thing, only in her story Rich was at a college party at Ohio University that was raided by the cops and that's why he took the entire sheet. Sarah said that she called her then-boyfriend to see if her remembered Rich's story as being pulled over in the car and he said yes. The version that I had heard the most was that Rich was at a backyard party in Portsmouth when the cops busted it up. He had the acid in his shirt pocket, it was raining, he was running from the law and it seeped into his skin.
3 slightly different versions, all having the same outcome. I'm starting to think that there is some truth to this urban legend.
*names have been changed to protect the innocent
when used clinically in the 1960's, psychiatrist Dr. Sidney Cohen surveyed a sample of 5000 individuals who had taken LSD twenty-five thousand times. He found an average of 1.8 psychotic episodes per thousand ingestions, 1.2 attempted suicides, and 0.4 completed suicides. "Considering the enormous scope of the psychic responses it induces," he concluded, "LSD is an astonishingly safe drug." im not trying to cause any drama just wanted to present some facts.
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ReplyDeleteThank you for posting this great story. I've lived in Portsmouth most of my life and have had many encounters with Rich, either stopping to watch him play piano at the local music store or saying hello as he strolled down Gallia Street with a cup of coffee.
ReplyDeleteI've always wondered if the myth was true. I suppose until we hear it straight from the horse's mouth, we'll never know, but your story was very touching and well written. Thanks so much for sharing!
My name is Joey Ray and Richard, named after his Grandfather Richard Paul Bingham who disappeared mysteriously and was never heard from again, is MY COUSIN and I've known him from birth and now death. There isn't any aspect of Richards life I don't know about. I was there. He is a Schizophrenic. He never took huge amounts of acid. He was incarcerated in mental hospitals off and on for several years before they finally let him go on medication. He soon quit taking the medication and began drinking beer mostly to help curb the effects of the disease and lucky for him that has worked out for him.
ReplyDeleteBoth of his parents did all they could do for him until they passed away years ago. He has two sisters alive living far away and 2 nieces and a nephew also far away from here. I have been here for Rich. He was like my brother as we grew up we inseparable as kids. The drug era came in the late 60's and most of us lived through it. Rich started having episodes of his condition and had to be institutionalized for quite some time.(off and on) The street drugs probably escalated his condition somewhat but he was Schizophrenic regardless of what he took. Once again I THANK ALL OF YOU who were his friend and helped him on his life journey. I have always Loved Richard Kendrick Moon from birth and now still. This is a great loss for all of us but it is a Miracle for Rich. He is FREE!