A reprint of a 1953 article published as a memorial to James Taylor Richards has the following text on the cover:

James Taylor Richards (1892-1953)
by Hubert E. Bale
Reprinted for private circulation from
The Bulletin of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists
Vol. 37, No. 11, November, 1953

The body of the article (pp. 2630-2632), without the accompanying photograph, is transcribed in its entirety as follows (the error in the date at the end is in the original):

James Taylor Richards
(1892-1953)
       James Taylor Richards, petroleum geologist, died of cancer at his home near Orlando, Florida, on June 29, 1953, at the age of 61 years.
       He had been ill for some time and had retired from his position as zone geologist with the Gulf Oil Corporation (Gypsy division) on May 1, 1952, after thirty years with that company. He had moved in the summer of 1952 with his wife Adah to Florida where their new home was nearing completion when he died.
       During recent years the existence of a malignancy was known but it was thought extensive medical treatment had arrested the trouble and that he had several years left in which to enjoy a life of rest and pleasure. In a few weeks before his death he had been in intense pain and it was known during the last week that little time was left to him. The end came quickly in the early afternoon of June 29. His wife and his son David were at his bedside at the last.
       James Taylor, son of Albert Andrew Richards and Minnie Owens Richards, was born in Wellington, Kansas, on February 18, 1892. He was one of seven children.
       James Taylor was called "Jay" or J.T." by his family. He acquired the name "Dick," as he was widely known in later years, while in high school.
       Dick received his early education in Wellington, Kansas, and graduated from high school in Washington, D.C., where his family had moved when his father received an appointment in the office of attorney general.
       In 1911 he entered Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute at Troy, New York, and in 1915 graduate with the degree of Civil Engineer. During 1915 Dick worked in the field and studied at Oklahoma University in geology, mineralogy, and chemistry. In 1916 he entered the University of Chicago, in the School of Geology, where he studied under Chamberlin and Salisbury. Due to this research work with Dr. Chamberlin he was elected to Sigma Xi.
       While Dick was a freshman at Rensselaer he met Adah Pieper of Troy, New York, and on September 11, 1916, they were married. One son, David Taylor, was born to the couple.
       During 1915-1916 Dick was production superintendent in western Oklahoma for the Bergen Oil and Gas Company. During 1917 he was surface geologist for the Empire Gas and Fuel Company, working in Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado. In 1917-1918 he was employed by the United States Geological Survey as surface geologist in Oklahoma. In 1918 he left the Survey to become geologist and production superintendent for his father, A.A. Richards.
       Dick was an independent operator and oil producer during a part of 1919 and until 1922 when he joined the Gypsy Oil Company as geologist. He worked with the Gypsy, which later became part of the Gulf Oil Corporation, in Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas, Kentucky, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, Tennessee, and Oklahoma, until his retirement in 1952.
       Dick was one of the pioneer subsurface geologists in the Ardmore area in Oklahoma and in 1925 transferred to Ponca City to do sample and subsurface work in the development of the northwest extension of the Tonkawa pool. In 1926, when only four wells were drilling in the newly found Seminole area of Oklahoma, he was transferred to Seminole where he became an expert in interpretation and correlation of well cuttings. In 1929, just after the discovery of oil in the Oklahoma City pool, he was transferred to Oklahoma City, in charge of the district geological department where he remained until his retirement in 1952.
       Always interested in geology and geologists, it was natural that Dick was one of the organizers and a charter member of the Oklahoma City Geological Society which was reorganized in 1929 after being inactive since 1923. He served as the second president of the newly organized society and throughout his residence in Oklahoma City was very active in the affairs of the organization. In 1952 he was made a life member of the Oklahoma City Geological Society. Dick became a member of A.A.P.G. in 1924 and was active in that organization. He was a registered professional engineer (Oklahoma).
       In addition to geology, Dick enjoyed many other interests. He liked people and spent much time doing something for the other fellow, - he was a member of the Christian Church and participated in the affairs and activities of the church.
       Dick was a life member of the Lions Club and was especially interested and active in that organization's program for underprivileged children. He was interested in Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts and participated in their various activities. He received the Silver Beaver award for his work with Boy Scouts.
       Dick had several hobbies; he was an ardent stamp collector; he helped organize and served as president of, the Oklahoma City Philatelic Society.
       He like to travel and with his wife and son made several extended trips throughout the United States and its territories as well as to foreign lands. On these trips he studied the people and their customs and of course, the geology of the region. He was an accomplished photographer and on their various trips he made many pictures and movies of places and people which he delighted to show to his friends.
       Dick's first love was geology and he contributed greatly to the science. In 1925 he collaborated with Ralph Birk on "The Extension of a Portion of the Pontotoc Series Around the Western End of the Arbuckle Mountains."
       In 1928 he collaborated with Stuart K. Clark and James I. Daniels in the paper, "Logging Rotary Wells from Drill Cuttings," which covered the collective experiments of the Marland Oil Company and Gypsy Oil Company in the use and interpretation of well cuttings.
       In 1941 his paper, "Formation Samples from Gun Perforators," was published, - a comprehensive article on the technique of obtaining and interpreting small formation particles from the empty gun-perforator shells.
       One of Dick's plans in his retirement was research for several articles on geology. He was especially intrigued by the banded pebbles in the Vanoss formation in the vicinity of Sulphur, Oklahoma.
       Surviving are his widow, Adah Pieper Richards, Route 3, Orlando, Florida, his son, David Taylor Richards, who is a geologist in Wichita Falls, Texas, three grandchildren, and one brother, Joe Richards of Eugene, Oregon.
       Those of us who knew him well through the years feel a deep personal loss and will remember him as a friendly fellow of fine character, energy, and ability, always busy and ever planning.

Hubert E. Bale
Dallas, Texas
August 3, 1952