A nice tribute, Clay. I only discovered Steve Benson's work when I started looking at Go-Comics. That's also when I discovered yours. He was so refreshing after reading the heinous Lisa Benson's cartoon, which used to be listed just before his.
As you know, I live in Spain. A neighbor once asked me if I was Jewish (I have a Sephardic last name); I told her that I am, indeed, ethnically and culturally Jewish (I grew up in NYC), but that I am an atheist. Her response: "that's worse." We are civil to each other, but not what I would call friends.
When asked why I moved to Spain, I say: vengeance. The Inquisition (which didn't officially end until the 1850s) started here. And for the Civil War (my father and two of his cousins were, respectively, a member of the International Brigades medical corps and members of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. The youngest brother (too young to participate) of one of the cousins became an historian and wrote the first English language history of the Second Republic and the Civil War. His older brother, was a commissar in the Lincoln Brigade and a Stalinist until his death. Oh, well. The other brother was killed at the Ebro.
I am proudly an atheist. Although, Stephen J. Gould (who I respect as an evolutionary biologist) wrote that religion and science represent different magisteria, I disagree. Religion is a way of establishing hierarchy and orthodoxy. It is an evil thing. Science is a method for approaching truth. Truth may be unobtainable, but the effort to formulate testable hypotheses has been highly productive in approaching what may, in fact, be ineffable. I worked as a research biologist for more than 40 years before retirement (I still keep my hand in as a reviewer of books and papers.) I have sometimes thought that I have caught glimpses of truth. It's a complex universe and, as such, humbling. But invoking deity (and particularly monotheistic deity) to "explain" it is foolish and a waste of time. And dangerous as it reinforces the status quo: render unto Caesar and all that. Before pursuing my career in Europe, I had applied for several academic positions in the US. Among them, one was Goshen College, a Mennonite school in Ohio. They required a statement of faith. Needless to say, they didn't hire me. Seeing what is happening to universities in the US is an outrage. I get the distinct feeling that your friend, Steve Benson, would agree.
I do believe, however, that we live on after corporeal death. We live in the memories of those we have affected, so even that is ephemeral.
It’s always hard to lose a friend, whether we just talked to them yesterday, or 3 years ago, or even longer. I like knowing that the two of you could debate, argue, disagree, and still go right on being friends. I’m sorry he’s gone, and I hope he’s resting easy, whatever that may mean for him.
Losing a friend who was first a mentor hurts horribly. Losing a friend with whom the arguments were rich and don’t end in never wanting to see each other again is even more painful. He committed to what he believed and as annoying as proselytizing can be, when you believe in every part of your being it’s good for all, it’s tough to stop. We do it against MAGA and for better that we hope is truth, justice, compassion, empathy, generosity. Hold on to the arguments. Give to others what he gave to you in nurturing your creativity and confidence.
Just 10 days ago, I lost my similar friend, Izzy Gesell, an improv teacher, a good human, a person who encouraged me. We honor them by carrying forth. You do. Thanks, Clay.
What a great tribute to your friend, Steve Benson!
However, I must admit when I first saw the title of this cartoon, For Steve, I thought it was going to relate to the Opinion Editorial that premiered today in the New York Times about the ruthless Steve Miller.
I read about Steve's death on Jack's Substack earlier and somehow knew you would write about him, too. My religious views, or lack thereof, are much the same as yours. I respect everyone's right to believe as they wish, as long as they don't try to shove it down my throat, as long as they respect my right to not believe. I've long felt that religions ... all of them ... are the root cause of much of the world's problems. Anyway ... great tribute post to your friend/colleague, Clay.
I'm sorry for your loss, Clay. It's always hard to lose a friend. On a selfish note, I hope he finds a way to let you know what's on the other side, and if he was wrong or not about this whole atheism thing. If he does, keep me posted - I may have to change my entire thought process about god before it's too late. Whatever happens after death, I hope Steve is resting in peace.
I appreciated Steve Benson. Sorry to hear he's gone. Religion can be a good thing or a bad thing or even an evil thing, but it seems most people have a predisposition for believing in "something". I personally think it's a sign of mental laziness, looking for the easy explanation and ignoring all the complications because "it's too hard to think about all that".
That's the entire basis of MAGA in a nutshell, looking for easy fixes to very complicated social things. If it was that easy, we'd have already done it.
Religion is the world's first theater... and it plays on and on.
Thank for posting this, Clay. I always enjoyed his work and messages.
Steve was a star. Now he is twinkling in the firmament.
I’m sorry for your loss of a friend, it’s hard. Especially when your last contact was rough.
A nice tribute, Clay. I only discovered Steve Benson's work when I started looking at Go-Comics. That's also when I discovered yours. He was so refreshing after reading the heinous Lisa Benson's cartoon, which used to be listed just before his.
As you know, I live in Spain. A neighbor once asked me if I was Jewish (I have a Sephardic last name); I told her that I am, indeed, ethnically and culturally Jewish (I grew up in NYC), but that I am an atheist. Her response: "that's worse." We are civil to each other, but not what I would call friends.
When asked why I moved to Spain, I say: vengeance. The Inquisition (which didn't officially end until the 1850s) started here. And for the Civil War (my father and two of his cousins were, respectively, a member of the International Brigades medical corps and members of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. The youngest brother (too young to participate) of one of the cousins became an historian and wrote the first English language history of the Second Republic and the Civil War. His older brother, was a commissar in the Lincoln Brigade and a Stalinist until his death. Oh, well. The other brother was killed at the Ebro.
I am proudly an atheist. Although, Stephen J. Gould (who I respect as an evolutionary biologist) wrote that religion and science represent different magisteria, I disagree. Religion is a way of establishing hierarchy and orthodoxy. It is an evil thing. Science is a method for approaching truth. Truth may be unobtainable, but the effort to formulate testable hypotheses has been highly productive in approaching what may, in fact, be ineffable. I worked as a research biologist for more than 40 years before retirement (I still keep my hand in as a reviewer of books and papers.) I have sometimes thought that I have caught glimpses of truth. It's a complex universe and, as such, humbling. But invoking deity (and particularly monotheistic deity) to "explain" it is foolish and a waste of time. And dangerous as it reinforces the status quo: render unto Caesar and all that. Before pursuing my career in Europe, I had applied for several academic positions in the US. Among them, one was Goshen College, a Mennonite school in Ohio. They required a statement of faith. Needless to say, they didn't hire me. Seeing what is happening to universities in the US is an outrage. I get the distinct feeling that your friend, Steve Benson, would agree.
I do believe, however, that we live on after corporeal death. We live in the memories of those we have affected, so even that is ephemeral.
It’s always hard to lose a friend, whether we just talked to them yesterday, or 3 years ago, or even longer. I like knowing that the two of you could debate, argue, disagree, and still go right on being friends. I’m sorry he’s gone, and I hope he’s resting easy, whatever that may mean for him.
Truth in toon. Nice work.
I love this.
Losing a friend who was first a mentor hurts horribly. Losing a friend with whom the arguments were rich and don’t end in never wanting to see each other again is even more painful. He committed to what he believed and as annoying as proselytizing can be, when you believe in every part of your being it’s good for all, it’s tough to stop. We do it against MAGA and for better that we hope is truth, justice, compassion, empathy, generosity. Hold on to the arguments. Give to others what he gave to you in nurturing your creativity and confidence.
Just 10 days ago, I lost my similar friend, Izzy Gesell, an improv teacher, a good human, a person who encouraged me. We honor them by carrying forth. You do. Thanks, Clay.
I'm sorry for your loss.
Thank you, Clay. It’s a time of needing good friends to stick around.
May his memory be a blessing.
What a great tribute to your friend, Steve Benson!
However, I must admit when I first saw the title of this cartoon, For Steve, I thought it was going to relate to the Opinion Editorial that premiered today in the New York Times about the ruthless Steve Miller.
So glad it wasn’t, but saddened for your loss.
I read about Steve's death on Jack's Substack earlier and somehow knew you would write about him, too. My religious views, or lack thereof, are much the same as yours. I respect everyone's right to believe as they wish, as long as they don't try to shove it down my throat, as long as they respect my right to not believe. I've long felt that religions ... all of them ... are the root cause of much of the world's problems. Anyway ... great tribute post to your friend/colleague, Clay.
I'm sorry for your loss, Clay. It's always hard to lose a friend. On a selfish note, I hope he finds a way to let you know what's on the other side, and if he was wrong or not about this whole atheism thing. If he does, keep me posted - I may have to change my entire thought process about god before it's too late. Whatever happens after death, I hope Steve is resting in peace.
I've read a couple of tributes to Steve Benson but yours and Jack Ohman gives me however small it is a sense of the man's character.
Clay this was a beautiful tribute to Steve. Thank you for sharing.
I appreciated Steve Benson. Sorry to hear he's gone. Religion can be a good thing or a bad thing or even an evil thing, but it seems most people have a predisposition for believing in "something". I personally think it's a sign of mental laziness, looking for the easy explanation and ignoring all the complications because "it's too hard to think about all that".
That's the entire basis of MAGA in a nutshell, looking for easy fixes to very complicated social things. If it was that easy, we'd have already done it.