Richard M. Ray Sr.; Publisher, Editor of Books About Gardening

Richard M. Ray Sr., 68, publisher and editor of books about gardening. Ray founded and was president of Horticultural Sales Products of Coronado, which in recent years turned from books to toy kits that teach children about plants, worms and the ecosystem. One of his products, Root-Vue Farms, won the prestigious toy industry Oppenheim Gold Seal for safe and effective educational toys. Ray helped develop the 24-volume Ortho Garden Book Series for Chevron Chemical, the HP Garden Book Series for Putnam Publishing, the Golden Book Garden series for Western Publishing and the American Regionalized Garden Books for Lake Books. He had served as president of the California Arboretum Foundation Trustees and was a director of the Men’s Garden Club of Los Angeles. On Tuesday in Coronado Cays, Calif., of a heart attack.