Posted by Chris Bast on November 5, 2011:

Ben died this morning and I never got a chance to pay him back. My IOU is not for over 50 years of friendship and memories some of which I've listed below, but for his singular act of mercy given to Nancy three years ago. Ben handed me a torch of hope to light my way out of my darkest hour. He gave us the means to fight for life rather than passively surrender to death. It almost worked. I wish I could have helped him in his own gallant fight. Ben, I hope you're sipping wine, listening to your favorite opera, in the company of old friends with a good book on your lap. Until we meet again Chris I've made a short partial list of some memories of Ben: *The time we climbed out the Grant Hall men's room window to escape our blind dates. (Later in our mid lives we winced in mutual embarrassment for our callow cruelty.) *In deserved retribution we were left waiting at the 50 yard line in Philly after the Army Navy game by our two unimpressed Skidmore dates who abandoned us without a ride home nor any air in our previously inflated egos. *The NYC trip to show our kids the dinosaurs, whales, Indians.etc in the Museum of Natural History only to be told that we were inadvertently in the Museum of Modern Art-"smooth move Dad". *Our business partnership in a strip mall where my daughter, the venture's bookkeeper, told me she liked working for Ben -- "He's cute for an old guy". *Our wives laughing reminding us that we were broke after we spent an abortive weekend looking for property to develop in the Adirondacks immediately after grad school had emptied our tiny pocketbooks. *The time I visited your palatial, corner office high above Wall Street and was treated with the deference and special respect reserved for a titan in the financial market just because I was your classmate. *The time Ben, Harriett, and I got stuck in the elevator in Ben's beautiful Kiawah mansion while Kathy was at church. Kathy returned just in time to save us. I was starting to feel a twinge of claustrophobia, and Ben was in a sweat contemplating what he might have to do to help me. Harriett remained calm. *The warm welcome you and Cathy gave to Harriett in easy, loving acceptance into the circle of our longstanding family friendship.

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