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I have sad news to report on the passing of Richard M. Langworth, yesterday, in San Francisco at the age of 83. Richard was the editor of The Packard Cormorant Magazine from 1975 to 2001, putting out 101 issues. Later this year, the 200th issues of TPC since Richard took over as editor (the 3rd Quarter 2025 issue), will be published, and will include a tribute to Richard.

For more information on Richard, and his rich life, please read the tribute to him by his son, Ian, at the website:richardlangworth.com/in-memoriam

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Hello all, I have never met Mr Langworth but I have been reading articles written by him in various Publications since I started into Packards in 1966. The fact that he was awarded a CBE from a foreign (and dare I say "John Bull" country) is testament to his credentials as a very important Scribe of Automobilia and of course the enigmatic..Sir Winston Churchill, He was the Political glue which held Britain together through the dark times of WW11. Ian's Tribute is spot on and a very special picture on details of his dad's life. A life well done Richard and may you greet St Peter at those Pearly Gates with a new "uncirculated" Packard to drive around in. ( probably on Hydrogen of course).

A sad shock to hear this. Dick raised the bar high editing the Packard Automobile Club's Cormorant quarterly for 25 years, a droll wordsmith with ever-present humor, garnering the Cormorant recurring award as the best marque club publication. Whatever you sent him, he was always able to splendidly tweak here and there; an editor's editor, i learning a few lasting things from him.
Dick was prolific as masterful, contributing earlier to Automobile Quarterly, and up to his end, Collectible Automobile. As editor of Finest Hour, quarterly of the International Churchill Society, these same abilities brought him a CBE in 1998. I was one of the first he told of this award, and despite his modesty, he was clearly beaming, deservedly so. Dick's neoconservatism led to an alliance with the insular Hillsdale College, and these views occasionally crept into even the Cormorant, but otherwise, his ministrations were worthy of Ralph Estep. Adroit newspaperfolk who weren't "car guys" enjoyed the Cormorant during Dick's tenure, asking me to bring the latest issue to dinner parties. The phrase "a gentleman and scholar" oft capriciously brandished, but in Dick's case, well deserved. Our sympathies to Barbara and Ian.

Oh my, so sorry to hear that we've lost one of the foremost automotive historians of our time, as well as a brilliant editor of the Packard club's quarterly publication for a quarter century. In addition to his many books, his articles could be found in just about every publication devoted to our hobby. I was so very fortunate to have met Dick several times and to have greatly enjoyed his company on several of the early Packard Club Henry Joy tours in upstate New York, Saratoga Springs and Cooperstown.