Professor Spotlight: Richard Block

Erica Jordan Prof Spotlight Richard Block is a full-time professor at Franklin Pierce in the Graphics Communication department. He was born in New York City and is married with one son. And oh, he owns 30 dogs; Siberian Huskies. Block was drawn to Franklin Pierce when he started teaching in the Berkshires of Massachusetts at Simon's Rock College. Because it was constantly a temporary teaching position, he realized he needed to find something full-time. "I applied to several colleges to teach, and got called for a graphics interview here in 1986 and fell in love with it and the area," said Block. State University of New York (SUNY) at Binghamton was where Block received his degree. Unable to decide whether to major in theater or art, he majored in both; technical theater and studio art. Years later, he attended Bard College to get his Masters of Fine Arts in intermedia. Here at Franklin Pierce, Block teaches a variety of different graphics courses such as Typography, Computer Graphics, and different levels of graphic design classes. On his own, he enjoys designing logos for CD covers for different bands and musicians. 30 Siberian Huskies take up Block's time when he is not teaching here at Franklin Pierce. "We have around 30 of them, and we raise and train them to race. They take up a lot of time," said Block. The dogs are from an old Canadian race line, and have competed in numerous races. A number of offspring of his dogs ran in the grueling 1,000 mile Yukon Quest race this past year. Currently he is training three race teams incorporating him, his son, and a friend. The sleds are usually pulled by four, six, or eight dogs, both males and females. When asked where the dogs live, Block said all outside. "Most of the dogs stay outside, but we have a few couch potatoes and dogs that hang by my wife's side," he said. Block frequently trains the dogs around the area. There is a trail going from Fitzwilliam all the way to Keene that is 12 or 15 miles each way that he can train them on in winter or summer. "I'm always looking to train them, however the dogs eat up miles, so 12 or 15 miles really isn't a long time for the dogs," he said. Other than training the dogs, Block is a fully certified cross country ski instructor. He is an avid fan of skiing, and used to be the Nordic Ski Director at Temple Mountain. He is also a musician who plays the bass and acoustic guitar. "My son, who is now 24, really got into fiddling and so he wanted to go to Nova Scotia to study fiddling," said Block, "I became really interested and my son and I actually had a fiddle and guitar duo, where we traveled all over the east, and sometimes out west to play for people." His son is still playing the fiddle and is in Annalivia, a four piece band with his friends. There is one thing Block believes some people might not know about him. "I have three Toyota Previa vans, which are like mini vans, all exactly the same, and two BMW sedans," he said. The vans are used for sheep and hay, which Block and his wife also raise, as well as for herding the dogs. His two BMW's are "classic; I love them," he said. One other thing people may or may not know about him is that his dogs are one of the most important parts of his life, and his life often revolves around them. He and his wife will be attending the Snow Walkers Rendezvous, where they camp out, and share workshops on dog sledding and winter travel in general. Block's favorite part of Franklin Pierce University is "it's big enough to do things right, yet small enough to make changes happen." Coming from Manhattan to New Hampshire was a big change, but he loves the rural area. He also loves the students and faculty that the college has to offer. So if you ever want to get to know Block, or learn more about him and his dogs, strike up a conversation with him because he would be glad to talk with you!