Richard is a contributing editor at New America Media in San Francisco. He writes regularly for several newspapers and magazines, both in the United States and in England. He has also written an autobiographical trilogy on class, ethnicity and race: "Hunger of Memory" (1982) "Days of Obligation: An Argument With My Mexican Father," (1992) and "Brown: The Last Discovery of America" (2002). He is currently working on a book concerned with the ecology of the desert and monotheism.

Richard received a 1997 George Foster Peabody Award for his NewsHour essays on American life. The Peabody Award is designed to recognize "outstanding achievement in broadcast and cable," and is one of television's highest honors.

Richard's awards include the Frankel Medal from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the International Journalism Award from the World Affairs Council of California. Richard lives in San Francisco. He has been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in non-fiction; and the National Book Critics' Award.