Keith Richards Receives Special Honor from the State of Connecticut

Keith Richards became the inaugural recipient of the Governor's Award of Excellence in the State of Connecticut.

The legendary guitarist was awarded the honor during a recent event at The Westport Libary in Westport, Conn. Richards and his family have lived in Connecticut since 1985, and he was recognized by Governor Ned Lamont for "his contributions in enriching Connecticut’s cultural and civic life."

Richards said when accepting the award, "I’ve been here for 40 years, and it’s been a great place for me. I brought the kids up here. When the kids were young, I said, I have to get the kids out of New York City before they don’t get any fresh air at all. So, we moved up here, and ever since, we’ve had a great life. … I’m incredibly happy about everything, especially things like this, because you don’t get them every day."

The Westport Library noted in a recap of the event some of the local community organizations Richards has supported over the years. Those organizations include SPHERE, which provides arts and education programs to adults with disabilities, and The Prospector, a non-profit movie theater that provides employment to people with disabilities.

Richards also touted the importance of community libraries and said in his acceptance speech, "This is a great building, a wonderful library, which even I didn’t know the full extent of. As Bill [Harmer, Westport Library Executive Director] was saying earlier, without our books, without knowing things, without knowing their special meaning — this isn’t movies, this is not someone drawing you images. This is a book, and you have the movie in your head. It’s very important that we keep our books unburnt.”