Richard A. Lutman

Richard Atwater Lutman, son of Deborah Paul, a longtime Jamestown resident, and Frank Carson of Philadelphia (deceased), passed away peacefully on July 30, 2025 at the age of 82. He is survived by his sister, Sarah Anne of Waverly RI, and his brother Edward Lloyd of Egg Harbor Township, NJ. In accordance with Richard's wishes, he will be cremated. A memorial service to celebrate his life will be held next year at Jamestown, RI. Born in Rochester NY, Richard spent most of his life in Jamestown, where his family owned a home on Hull Cove. He graduated from Germantown Friends School and attended the University of Vermont, later transferring to Windham College in Putney, Vermont, where he earned his bachelor's degree in English and Art and was named Sophomore of the year in 1964. Richard went on to earn an MFA from Vermont College in Montpelier, Vermont. In the mid-1970s, Richard returned to Rhode Island where he held a variety of jobs including as a news photographer for a Providence station, a cab driver, a hardware store clerk, and a consultant for Texas Instruments in Attleboro, MA, helping the company prepare for ISO 9001 certification. He also wrote articles for the Jamestown Press and led a strike for a better retirement package at the hardware store. Before transitioning to the defense industry, Richard taught short story writing at Fairfield University, the Learning Connection in Providence, and at CCRI, where he taught composition and literature. Richard received several prestigious awards for his writing, including multiple Honorable Mentions in the Writer's Digest fiction competition (1989, 1990, and 1993), Second Place in the National Writers Club Short Story Contest (1987), and Fellowships from the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts (1984, 1987). He was also a Finalist for the Robert Frost Poetry Medal in 1965 at Windham College. He held various positions with defense contractors at the Naval Base, including Raytheon, SYSCON, and McLaughlin Research. At SYSCON, he worked as a Test Engineer/Technical Writer, developing quality and test-related documents. At Raytheon's Submarine Signal Division in Portsmouth, he updated technical documentation for Tomahawk programs as port of the Trident Development Test Group. At McLaughlin Research, Richard supported the effort to register ISO 9000 and ISO 14001 environmental standards, receiving two commendations from the base caption for his contributions. In 1992, the Jamestown Conservation Agency invited Richard to work as a field assistant on biodiversity projects in Hong Kong and China. He helped students from Vermont and China as part of the Green Across the Pacific program. Over the years, Richard returned to China multiple times and documented a significant portion of Hong Kong's butterfly species on Shek Kwu Chau Island in the South China Sea. His findings were published in June 2000 Lepidoptera News and his article in Porcupine on the butterflies of Shek Kwu Chau was the first study of the island's populations. In 2009, he joined the Conservation Agency Again in Guana Island in the Bahamas, where he discovered two new butterfly species. Richard also volunteered for ten years at Myrtle Beach State Park, where he surveyed local butterfly populations, sharing his findings with the South Carolina Butterfly Society and the park ranger. Richard returned to Rhode Island in December 2020, settling in North Kingstown. An avid lover of Yeungling (his "vitamin Y"), Richard had many passions, including sailing, walking, rescuing dogs, enjoying the Stanley Brothers and Gilbert and Sullivan, and supporting the Phillies. He was also a devoted writer, having published seven books. His collection of short stories, published in 2020, was a finalist in the American Book Fest: Best Books. His script "Through the Wild Country" won Best Script at the 2001 Rhode Island International Film Festival. Richard's most recent work includes a biography of his great-grandfather and a second short story collection, both published in 2023. Richard's legacy lives on through his writing, his environmental contributions, and his love for his family and community. In lieu of flowers the family requests that donations be made to the Rhode Island ASPCA. Inquiries about the exact date and location of the memorial service can be sent to rgsmith2b@gmail.com.