To supplement his meagre college existence he was a cartoonist at the
college paper, Top O' the World. He did many outstanding political and
feature cartoons including a series on the life of Winston Churchill.
An experimental aircraft, registered to Richard Van Vleet, crashed in Lockwood Valley, CA on March 26, 2010. Neither Richard nor his passenger were hurt - the crash was attributed to mechanical failure.
Worked his way through college dramatic training by washing pots and
pans at school cafeteria while rehearsing singing parts as he worked.