Richard Koob

In recognition of Koob's life work, in 2013 the Hawaii State Senate officially announced:

Lester John ("LJ") Bates III was appointed as Kalani’s Executive Director in November 2012, and after a period of transition Koob officially retired in July 2013. At the Kalani event celebrating his career, the Hawai'I State Legislature awarded him a commendation for his "commitment to nurturing and educating people".

Koob and Morgan began building a retreat center focused on self-development and education. In 1975, with help from Koob's family, they purchased the original Kalani Honua property, now expanded to include the Kalani Kai and Kalani Mauka parcels. The 1982 grand opening of Kalani was described by the Island's newspaper as "the best party ever in Puna" (an event now eclipsed by the Kalani-organized Puna Music Festival, which attracts over 6,000 attendees). In 1992, Morgan died of complications of AIDS. According to Koob, "Earnest inspired an enduring creativity and love in all his relations".

In 1975 Koob and Earnest Morgan co-founded Kalani. For 38 years Koob served as the director of Kalani Oceanside Retreat. Kalani is a non-profit 501(c)(3) dedicated to nature, culture, and wellness. Koob's philosophy is expressed in Kalani's Mission "to provide a fun, safe and educational retreat village which encourages ALOHA love for life in each person's own deepest way through participation in abundant nature, culture and wellness experiences."

After ten years touring the western world as professional dancers and patrons of the arts, in 1973 Koob and his companion Morgan moved to Hawai'i, settling in Honolulu on Oahu, as well as living part-time in Hilo and rural Puna on the Big Island of Hawai'i. He helped Morgan found, manage, and fund Dance O Hawai'i, which performed throughout the Islands' communities and schools, as well as in the Asia Pacific region. While completing his MFA, he also performed with the Honolulu Ballet, directed by Morgan, and with other dance companies.

In 1969, after his senior year of undergraduate studies living in Germany, and three months working and touring as a civil rights activist in Cuba, Koob settled in New York City, where he worked in urban planning, gay and lesbian civil rights, figure modeling, and modern dance. In 1972, he moved to Paris with his dance partner and lifelong companion Hawaiian-born Earnest Morgan. In his memoir, Koob wrote of an exciting, and often hectic, life touring as a professional dancer. At first he and Morgan performed in New York, and later in Paris, and elsewhere in Europe and Asia, including Leningrad, Morocco, and throughout France, with a grand finale at the annual arts festival in Avignon. He wrote of contrasts between the hectic life of performing in New York and Paris and evening walks in the countryside of Southern France, where it was "so easy to breath the joie de vivre and forget that there might be any destination or goal beyond just being itself".

Richard Koob (born 1946) is an American artist, best known as the founder of Kalani Oceanside Retreat, a non-profit retreat center on the Big Island of Hawai'i, and for his contribution to self-development and education.