Introduction

My family and friends all called me “Benny.” I was often urged to write down some of the tales I told my children, and others, about different events and adventures that crossed my path. No doubt, some of my experiences and observations have been instructive and even inspirational. Thus, I was finally persuaded to record some “Benny Stories” in the hope that they might offer some entertainment or serve a more useful purpose. My computer became my writing tool. I began to type such tales in the winter of 2003, in the relative tranquility of our small hideaway in Delray Beach, Florida, to which my wife, Gertrude, escapes from the cold winters of our home in New Rochelle, New York. It soon had dozens of such haphazard musings and rambling. I concluded that I should continue writing and arrange the stories in some logical or chronological sequence. My hope is that some of the tales might be uplifting and encourage others to support goals to which my wife and I have dedicated much of our lives.

From the depths of poverty, I managed to get a good education that led to an exciting legal career as well as comic and tragic experiences as a soldier in World War II. I married my childhood sweetheart, we had four children who brought us joy as well as grief. We tried to make it a more humane and peaceful world without Holocausts or aggressive wars. We went from "rags to riches" and lived to a ripe old age. I did what I had to do for reasons I never fully understood and for which I deserve no credit. My good wife always aided my efforts as an eager partner and more. There you have my autobiography in a nutshell.