Ronald B. Richardson, aka Ronosaurus Rex

A teacher for 27 years, I am an award-winning instructor: High Impact Teaching Award from the Center for Equity and Excellence in Teaching and Learning in 2018. I have taught composition and literature at San Francisco State University, College of San Mateo, and City College of San Francisco, where I received tenure. Before that, I taught English as a Second Language for thirteen years in Seoul, San Francisco, Barcelona, and Tokyo. I have a master’s degree in literature from San Francisco State University, a certificate in the teaching of composition, a Cambridge Certificate for English Language Training for Adults (CELTA), and a bachelor’s degree in literature from the University of Utah.

Explore the universe with me through photography, science fiction, horror, poetry, and nonfiction, especially about metafiction and teaching. Interested in the influence of narrative language on perception and behavior? Check out my book Narrative Madness.

16 thoughts on “Ronald B. Richardson, aka Ronosaurus Rex”

  1. Hi Ronald,

    I was looking for the Walter Benjamin quote on the Angel being blown backwards into the future. It is such an amazing essay and found your site. I really thought it was thought provoking your essay on time around this Walter Benjamin essay. I explored your site further and loved the photos of the Anti Trump protest. I went to Washington March and interviewed people on the street with video. Now editing it together into a 20 minute documentary through the protestors with words and signs. I am going to write down your site so I can revisit it and delve into it more. So proud of San Francisco for taking back the airport with the terrible and hateful executive order. Keep up the good work. -Laurie

    1. Thanks so much for your kind words. Thanks for promoting my site. I would love to know about your documentary and to do my part to promote it!

    1. Sorry it has taken me so long to respond to this. I could send you a pdf for your computer, Leanne. Would that work?

  2. Hi, my name is Nelsy Rodriguez and I’m a Public Information Representative at East Bay Municipal Utility District, the East Bay Area’s water provider. I would like to connect with you to discuss the potential use of one of your photos in an EBMUD publication. Please email me at your earliest convenience so we can chat. Thanks so much.

  3. Hi Richard, you really want to know who wrote DQ: not Cervantes, but if you are a good reader you should know the answer.. ( Cide Hamete Benengili minus Miguel de Cervantes= Siren) So now you know one secret.. and guess what.. the spurious DQ was also written by this writersgroup: Avellaneda minus ( not Miguel de Cervantes, but now the rest of his name..) i Saavedra= Siren II , or two or too.. also written by th Sireniacals or, the scond book written by the Sireniacal Gentlemen.. And so i have found over a hundred of codes, anagrams etc.. But you know, the Spanish edition was published before the Original version was revealed. And not without a reason.. it was not important who wrote the Don Quixote, but why??

  4. The final installment of The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman (Vol 9) was published in 1767 not 1769. Thanks for writing about TS.

  5. I read the monster at the end of the book to my grandson when he was two. His favorite book. Now he’s 25, tormented on the inside.
    I sent him the book and told him to go inside and get the sense of it.
    Today I see it as examining your tortured soul and at the end you see your a beautiful human being.

  6. Hi, Ronald! Thanks a lot for the “Into the Abyss” article, I found it very useful and exciting. However, there is a broken link in its text where you say: “Las Meninas (which you can read about in my post Las Meninas: A Metapainting)” the link leads to a site that did not open (at least on my mobile). I did google up the post and read it with great interest, but maybe you will want to fix that. Once again, thank you for these posts. Cheers!

  7. Thanks so much for your kind words. I would like to learn more about your studies of Jewish medieval literature. I am fascinated by writing from that period, especially medieval romances. Do you have a text you would recommend? (And your English was perfect.)

    1. Thanks for your immediate response and for your interest in my research. The Jewish medieval literature that I focus on, is part of the Midrash literature. It looks like commentary literature about the Bible, but as I suggest, commentary in this medieval literature is a poetic tool that create a new genre in the context of the Midrash discourse. This new perception of exegetical texts is my main interest. The work that I examine has been written in Yemen during the 14th century. One can find links to the 10th century Jewish literature in Spain.

      Abrief introduction to Midrash literature you can find here: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233987770_Jewish_Bible_Commentary_A_Brief_Introduction_to_Talmud_and_Midrash

      1. And about textual mirrors in the Midrash literature I recommend this wonderful book: Textual Mirrors, Reflexivity, Midrash, and the Rabbinic Self
        Dina Steinhttps://www.upenn.edu/pennpress/book/15033.html

  8. Reprint Permission Request (Our ref#: 23436-78500)
    Dear Ronald,

    Hello, we are a Japanese educational publisher, Kyogakusha, based in Kyoto. We looked for your contact details, but I guess this is how people get in touch with you first.

    We publish collections of past university entrance exams as each university/college sets its own entrance exams every year here in Japan.

    We would like to request permission to reprint the following short excerpt from your book on NON-EXCLUSIVE BASIS in our forthcoming textbook.

    Details are as follows:

    Your Work
    Title: Narrative Madness: The Quixotic Quest for Reality
    Author: Ronald B. Richardson
    Publisher: Omar Rodriguez
    ASIN: B00FJD26RI
    Excerpts: approximately 100 words from a paragraph starting with “What is metafiction?…”
    URL: https://www.amazon.co.jp/Narrative-Madness-Quixotic-Reality-English-ebook/dp/B00FJD26RI

    Our Publication
    Title: Seijo University (Faculty of Economics, Faculty of Social Innovation) (2024 – 2026 editions)
    Author: Kyogakusha Editorial Department
    Publisher: Kyogakusha
    Print run: 8700 (2900 prints per year, for 3 years only)
    Total number of pages: 632
    Ratio of the excerpt to our publication: less than 1%
    Retail Price: JPY 2200
    Format: paperback
    Publication Duration: July 2023 – March 2026
    Territory: Japan
    Language: English reprint in Japanese textbook

    We would appreciate it very much if you could give us your permission for the above use.
    Thank you for your time and we look forward to hearing from you soon.

    Kind regards,
    A.Y.
    Permissions Department
    Sekaishisosha-Kyogakusha Co., Ltd.

    1. I would be honored to be included in this anthology. I also have a close connection to Japan having lived there and taught English, including exam preparation, for two years. Here is my email address: profronosaurus at gmail.com.

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