Thursday, March 18th, 2010

The Public Eye: Richard Elia

Richard Elia earned his Ph.D. in English at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst in 1972.   He has created a double career as a full-time professor at Salem State College and president / publisher of Quarterly Review of Wines (QRW),
an international wine magazine that is one of the largest wine
magazines in the country. In addition to being president and publisher
of QRW, Elia writes articles for every issue.

He is the author of more than a dozen publications, primarily on the Victorian era and on maritime Boston painters of the 19th century; Elia has an extensive maritime art collection, and his articles have appeared in Antiques Magazine.

Active in the community, Elia participates in charitable fundraising
for town libraries and hospitals. He is on the board of several
corporations, including Quinlan Publishing, Boston University
Hospitality, and Diderot.  In 1980 he joined WGBH/PBS and became the
creator of three major wine auctions at Channel 2/Boston, which he
still oversees. The auctions have generated millions for public
television programming. A professional wine taster, Elia spends much of
his summers traveling and tasting throughout major wine regions of the
world.