Bensen's literary career began as a literary agent for Scott Meredith company. He was appointed editor of
Pyramid Publications during 1957, and was eventually, if not immediately, editor-in-chief there. Later he was a senior editor for
Ballantine Books and afterwards the
Berkley Publishing Corporation of New York. He was a consulting editor for Dell Books and The Dial Press from 1976 until 1981, and was instrumental in the establishment and acquisition of titles for the joint venture between the two imprints for their Quantum Science Fiction series, a prestigious international trade name that included such major works as
Stardance by Spider and Jeanne Robinson, the seminal story collection
The Persistence of Vision by John Varley,
In the Ocean of Night by Gregory Benford and
The Snow Queen by Joan D. Vinge. He also contributed editorially to Dell's paperback science fiction and fantasy publications during those years. During 1983 he joined
Keats Publishing, where he also became editor-in-chief. As an author, Bensen was the author of the novel
And Having Writ..., the "Tracker" western novels, and a number of other books. He also wrote a number of media related novels, including works based on the
Gunsmoke television series, and novelizations of William Goldman's screenplays for the 1979 movies
Mr. Horn and
Butch and Sundance: The Early Days. Bensen was a member of the all-male literary banqueting club the
Trap Door Spiders, which served as the basis of
Isaac Asimov's fictional group of mystery solvers the
Black Widowers. Bensen himself was the model for the character Roger Halsted. Concerning the Black Widowers, he published a poem of the same name during 1977. He was also associated with the
Mystery Writers of America. ==Bibliography==