The
Otto Richter Memorial Lecture is presented by the International Herb Association
at its annual conference in honour of the late Otto Richter, founder of
Richters Herbs. Otto Richter was a founding director of the International
Herb Growers and Marketers Association, now known as the IHA.
Otto Richter was born in 1918 in Austria where he operated a nursery before emigrating to Canada in 1953. In 1969 he and his family began growing and selling herbs in Locust Hill, Ontario, and put out the first mail order herb plant and seed catalogue in 1970. The business quickly grew into the leading supplier of herb plants and seeds in Canada, and after a move to its present location in Goodwood, Ontario, continued to grow, adding many varieties new to the herb world. In addition to running Richters, he served over twenty years with the Metropolitan Toronto Parks Department until his retirement in 1984. He was active in community beautification projects and organized public displays at garden shows and at the 1980 International Floralies Exhibition in Montreal. Otto Richter served as president of Richters Herbs until his death in 1991.
The Richter family is very grateful to the International
Herb Association for establishing the Otto Richter Memorial Fund in honour
of our beloved father and husband. Such gestures of thoughtfulness and
kindness prove once again that the herb industry is populated with wonderful
and caring people.
1993 Arthur O. Tucker, "Is This Plant a Hoax?"
1995 Varro E. Tyler, "Herbs and Health Care in the Twenty-first Century"
1997 Mark Blumenthal, "Herbs: Out of the Cauldron and into the Clinic"
1998 James E. Simon, "Development of New Herbs, Natural Products and Predictions for the Future"