Dick Doran served as a legislative assistant to Philadelphia Congressman William J. Green, as executive director of the Philadelphia Democratic County Executive Committee, as Chief of Staff to Governor Milton J. Shapp, as President of the Greater Philadelphia First Corporation, as Philadelphia City Representative and Director of Commerce, and as Vice-President of Independence Blue Cross

Independence Blue Cross

Independence Blue Cross is a health insurer based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the United States. Together with its subsidiaries, IBC is one of the largest health insurers in the five-county southeastern Pennsylvania area of Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia counties. IBC...

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Cultural institutions

A leader in the world of Philadelphia cultural institutions, he was Chairman of the Board of the Curtis Institute of Music

Curtis Institute of Music

The Curtis Institute of Music is a conservatory in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that offers courses of study leading to a performance Diploma, Bachelor of Music, Master of Music in Opera, and Professional Studies Certificate in Opera. According to statistics compiled by U.S...

, a member of the Board of the Opera Company of Philadelphia

Opera Company of Philadelphia

The Opera Company of Philadelphia is an American opera company in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and is the city's only company producing grand opera. The organization produces four fully staged opera productions annually, encompassing works from the seventeenth through the 21st century...

, and an advisor to the Philadelphia Museum of Art

Philadelphia Museum of Art

The Philadelphia Museum of Art is among the largest art museums in the United States. It is located at the west end of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia's Fairmount Park. The Museum was established in 1876 in conjunction with the Centennial Exposition of the same year...

 and the Philadelphia Orchestra

Philadelphia Orchestra

The Philadelphia Orchestra is a symphony orchestra based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States. One of the "Big Five" American orchestras, it was founded in 1900...

. He served as a "life teacher" and devoted friend to young Philadelphia pianist Lang Lang

Lang Lang (pianist)

Lang Lang , born June 14, 1982, in Shenyang, Liaoning, China, is a Chinese concert pianist, currently residing in New York, who has performed with leading orchestras in Europe, the United States and his native China. He is increasingly well known around the world for his concert performances,...

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Author

He was the author of an extensive personal diary for the years 2000-2002 entitled Suddenly Sixty-Five. He was the author of a political novel--he called it a fable--about the corruption caused by large campaign contributions, lobbyists, and pollsters entitled It Takes A Villain.

His close friend, former Congressman and Mayor William J. Green, euologized him as "Thomas Jefferson without the contradictions" and said of his cultural leadership "he gave and he gave and he gave until he just couldn't give any more."