[4] Her close friend Kerry Kennedy stated that Mary spent a semester working for the artist Andy Warhol in 1980.

While Edward Kennedy was running for president, Mary Richardson, then age 20, had raised donations of artwork from Warhol and other prominent artists in his network, including Rauschenberg, Lichtenstein, and Schnabel.

[4] After studying architecture at RISD, Richardson lived in SoHo, Manhattan, in the 1980s, and was active in the bohemian culture.

[1] She was involved in the renovation of the Naval Observatory in Washington, DC, the official residence of the Vice President of the United States.

[6] Her work involved green building practices and was certified through the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program.

[9][10] During their marriage, Kennedy was widely regarded as a serial philanderer and was known among his friends for sending explicit nude photos of women that they presumed he had taken, according to Vanity Fair.

[24] A legal battle between her widower and her brother, Thomas W. Richardson, ensued over which family should have control over her remains.