His interest in literature took root at a young age, with a fond childhood memory of working through a bilingual copy of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales.
Much like his poetry, Richard is deeply rooted in the Pacific Northwest, with prominent figures who helped build and showcase the region in his family tree.
He is a great-great grandson of Robert Wakefield, a structural engineer and contractor who helped build major bridges, rail lines, and water systems throughout Washington and Oregon spanning the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
It was during his time at Cal State Fullerton that he met his future wife, Catherine Wakefield (née Taylor) through mutual friends and family.
He continued on to the PhD program at UW, earning his degree in his doctorate in English with a concentration in American Literature under the direction of Jack Brenner and Roger Sale in 1983.
Wakefield was offered a position in the English department at the University of Washington as a full-time instructor upon completing his PhD.
Shortly after he was hired as a full-time, tenure-track position at Tacoma Community College, where he continues to teach as a tenured Professor of Humanities.
Today, he is a long distance hiker, taking in much of the natural beauty the Pacific Northwest has to offer, the inspiration for so much of his poetry.
With that, he enjoys taking road trips with his wife Catherine to some of the most scenic and striking natural landmarks in the region.
Wakefield has shifted to American folk music and has expanded his arsenal of stringed instruments to include the Ukulele, banjo, and 12-string acoustic guitar.
For several years in the 1990s he was co-owner of Rosewood Guitar, a dealer of fine instruments and accessories that was frequented by some of the top stars in Seattle’s grunge scene.