Richard Lawless of Springs, a self-employed painter and writer, died on Nov. 23 at the Kanas Center for Hospice Care in Quiogue. He was 75. He had been diagnosed with lung cancer three years ago, but had been in remission for a year before becoming ill again.
Mr. Lawless moved to East Hampton from Venice Beach, Calif., many years ago to continue his involvement with the arts, specifically painting and writing, according to a friend. His work was exhibited locally over the years, and his fiction was published in The Star for several years.
He was born in Boston on Sept. 24, 1945, the son of Joan Erano Lawless and John Lawless, and grew up there. He served in the Army; further details of his service were not available.
According to his friends, Mr. Lawless was well loved by those in the community, but did not have any surviving family they knew of.
Steve Anderson, a friend, Reiki master, and shaman, was to preside over a Zoom memorial yesterday evening. Mr. Lawless was cremated and his ashes will be spread at sea. His last request was that 29 of his paintings would be offered at auction and that the proceeds would go to help a family in need, of his choosing.
He adored dogs and had had a longhaired dachshund named Ginger and, as of three years ago, an unusual-looking black dachshund mix from the South, whom he named Hedy and whom he doted on, letting her run for hours in the dunes of Amagansett's Indian Wells Beach. Because he could not walk her as she needed once he was being given chemotherapy, he gave her to someone with whom the dog is apparently very happy.
