Rick was lucky enough to get into photography, mountaineering, scuba diving, adventure travel, music, martial arts, and teaching that allowed him to work in various places around the world. Drafted out of grad school at Colorado State University, Rick went into the army and worked as a field radio teletype operator and photographer in South Korea where he fell in love with Asia. After the army he went back to grad school at CSU (MA 1972) and got into mountaineering and climbing. Lived in Aspen (73-75). Moved to Australia to teach for two years (76-77). Traveled back to the States in ’78, spending 5 months in Southeast Asia, a month in Nepal, and drove a VW bus from Kathmandu to Amsterdam. Moved to Singapore to teach at Singapore American School in ’87 and was there 27 years. Retired in Steamboat Springs, Colorado in 2014 to substitute teach at the high school and drive a cab for GoAlpine—now fully retired since September 2023.
Studied martial arts since 1979. Began training in Arnis de Mano 1979, and In Singapore began training in Aikido and has trained in that art for more than 28 years. Also taught Aikido in Singapore and in Steamboat Springs at CMC.
Rick has a blog / photography page at: ricksilverman12.com