Richard Leck (1933-2008) was a poet and Army veteran. He was born in Weehawken, New Jersey and attended journalism school at New York University from 1953-1955. He worked at the New Jersey Observer and was a regular in the Greenwich Village coffeehouse scene in the 1960s where he frequented Cafe Figaro, The Limelight, The Commons, and Cafe Feenjon. Leck mingled with creative types including Yoko Ono, Shel Silverstein, Taylor Mead, John Nebel, Darren McGavin, and Yukiko Katsura. Known for working odd jobs and preferring the low-key lifestyle, Leck was a creative person who also dabbled in art and acting. After a few stretches of homelessness, he moved into the S.R.O. at the Sirovich Senior Center in the East Village in 1993. Leck began writing poetry later in life, publishing his first chapbook in 2008. At the time of his death, Leck was working on his memoirs, "Jumped, Fell, or Was Pushed," with the publisher of his poems, Karen Lillis.