Dr. Richard H. Rush

May 4, 2011

Dr. Richard H. Rush, 96, of North Fort Myers, FL passed away Wednesday evening, May 4, 2011. Dr. Rush is survived by his wife, Julia, and daughter Sallie H. Rush-Tayfour, and his grand-daughter, Farah Tayfour, daughter of the late Issam Tayfour, Esq., of Damascus, Syria and Marbella, Spain. Richard Rush was born in New York City March 1915 and has been a resident of North Fort Myers since 1989. He and his wife “Julie” were married in Washington, DC, and lived there, and in New York, Darien, Westport, and Greenwich, Connecticut. In 1969 they purchased and restored a historic Palladian Villa, the Villa Cornaro, located in Piombino Dese, Provincia di Padova, Italy.

Dr. Rush received his Doctorate from Harvard University (D.C.S.) Phi Beta Kappa after completing his Masters Degree (M.B.A.) in Finance at Harvard University where he was a Littauer Fellow. He received another Masters Degree from Dartmouth College’s Amos Tuck School of Business in 1938 (M.C.S. with high distinction). He received his B.A. summa cum laude from Dartmouth in 1937. He was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Kappa Phi, and Omicron Delta Kappa, National Honor Societies.

As Chairman of the National Security Resources Board, he was a Presidential Advisor during the Truman Administration. He later became the Washington representative to billionaire J.Paul Getty who at the time was said to be the richest man in the world. The Rushes frequently visited Mr. Getty at his home, Sutton Place, in England. Following his tenure as a corporate President, he was awarded a full professorship and was made Department Chair of Banking and Finance at American University in Washington, D.C.

He authored over a dozen books that were published by Prentice-Hall, McMillan & Co., Simon and Schuster, U.S. News and World Report’s Book Division. He authored over 800 articles for the Wall Street Transcript’s “Connoisseurs Corner.” He also wrote monthly articles that were published in the Art and Antiques Newsletter, the Diplomatic World Bulletin, and in other leading publications and magazines. He was prophetic as an investor, and a pioneer in the field of investing in art and antiques, classic cars, and Collectibles. He is often credited with coining the term “Collectibles.” His first book “Art as An Investment,” published in 1961 by Prentice-Hall, was also published in Italian and French editions, and was said by many collectors to be the “Bible of the Art World.” The book was reprinted by Bonanza Books, a division of Crown Publishers. His most recent book, published in 2001, “Collector Cars: Classics for the New Century” addresses “Values, Trends, Buying, Selling and Maintaining Collector Cars.”

Dr. Rush and his wife, Julia, traveled extensively throughout the world researching and writing, as well as collecting art and antiques. During these visits they were offered an opportunity to purchase a famous 16th Century Italian villa that was in serious need of restoration. They took on the challenge and during the next twenty years they restored the villa, following the precise specifications of Italy’s Superintendant of Monuments, to its original glory. The villa, designed and built by architect Andrea Palladio in 1554, is perhaps the most copied work of architecture in the western world. Palladio is considered by most authorities to be the world’s most influential and copied architect.

Dr. Rush is related from Ambassador Townsend Harris, the first United States Ambassador to Japan, who in 1858 signed the first trade treaty between Japan and the West. Before that time, Harris was the United States’ first Consul General to Japan. Ambassador Harris established the first free college in this country, The City College of New York while he was the first President of the New York Board of Education in 1847. In 1958 a movie was made about the life of Ambassador Townsend Harris, starring John Wayne as Harris in “The Barbarian and the Geisha” - a Hollywood version of his life and history.

Dr. Rush was also a descendant of the publisher of the National Gazette in the 1790s, Philip Freneau, who was called “The Poet of the Revolution.” Freneau, also the college roommate of President James Madison while at Princeton, was credited by Thomas Jefferson in his memoirs with “saving the country from becoming a monarchy.”

Dr. Rush’s father was a reknown concert master and orchestra conductor whose violin was played at Dr. Rush’s 95th Birthday Celebration by a student from Edison State College. Dr. Rush’s mother was one of artist Howard Chandler Christie’s favorite subjects, and was one of the original Gibson Girls. Her face is easily recognizable and frequently published even today. Her voice was admired by Thomas Edison who was interested in recording her operatic voice.

Dr. Richard Rush and his wife, Julia, have been benefactors of Edison State College, Fort Myers Lee campus. Admiring the curriculum, leadership, the beauty and intellectual atmosphere of the campus - coupled with the affordability of an excellent education, Dr. Rush was encouraged to be instrumental in supporting a state-of-the-art library. Edison State College honored him by naming their impressively modernized library after him – The Richard H. Rush Library.

The Rushes have loaned art and antiques from their collection to Edison State College, and have also gifted paintings from their collections of Old Masters to Dartmouth College, the City College of New York, Finch College, and the Universities of Texas and Arizona.

A celebration of Richard H. Rush’s life is planned for later this month at the Richard H. Rush Library’s Rush Auditorium; the date is to be announced. A reception is planned at Gulf Coast Village in Cape Coral next week where Dr. and Mrs. Rush resided during the past several months.

Arrangements under the direction of National Cremation & Burial Society, North Fort Myers, FL.