Richard Behrens

Richard was born in New York City on Aug. 27, 1964, and grew up in Queens. He graduated from Stuyvesant High School and earned a degree in English from Queens College. Although trained as a computer programmer and web developer, Richard’s passion was arts and literature, and he avidly collected books, music and film. He pursued his own writing with dedication and he has been published in a variety of literary and poetry journals. In 2013, Richard and his wife started their own publishing venture called Nine Muses Books, which features Richard’s own writing and podcasting. Through historical research and imagination, Richard created the character Lizzie Borden, Girl Detective as the protagonist of his mystery series that includes his book of short stories “Lizzie Borden: Girl Detective,” and his novel “The Minuscule Monk.” Richard was also the creator and host of The Lizzie Borden Podcast, which explored the Borden murders of 1892 and related history of Fall River, Mass. Richard also directed a radio play of his short story “The Agitated Elocutionist,” which featured local actors and is included on the latest episode of his podcast. Richard’s love of film led him to create a series of short documentaries that are available on his Garden Bay Films Channel of YouTube. Always enamored of the natural beauty and history of New England, Richard and his wife became Keene residents in 2014, joining Richard’s father, Frank (who passed away in 2016) and stepmother, Catherine. His parents’ connections to local theater encouraged Richard to try acting, and he appeared in several local theater productions. Like his father, Richard also became a teacher. He taught courses on silent film comedy and eccentric Victorian women at the Keene State College CALL program, and he lectured on a variety of topics at Road Scholar program at Pilgrim Pines, as well as at local libraries and historical societies. Richard also presented multi-media opera talks at The Colonial Theatre in Keene, prior to each Metropolitan Opera HD broadcast. He also hosted The Sherlock Holmes Club of Keene, lecturing and leading discussion on each of Conan Doyle’s stories. He had a lifelong love of Shakespeare and actively participated in a Shakespeare Reading Group.