John Everett Benson was born in
Newport, Rhode Island, in 1939. His mother, Esther Fisher Smith Benson, spoke using the
archaic pronouns of
Quaker "plain speech." Benson began working for his father,
John Howard Benson, at the age of fifteen at
The John Stevens Shop, which his father had purchased. He studied sculpture at
Rhode Island School of Design. He specialized in
Roman lettering. His mallet was engraved with
BY HAMMER& HAND after the old craftmans proverb "By hammer and hand do all things stand". He designed and carved gravestones for
Tennessee Williams,
Lillian Hellman,
Rachel Lambert Mellon He drew various photo-typefaces for architectural applications and a titling typeface, called Aardvark, for
The Font Bureau in Boston,
Alexa,
Balzano, and
Caliban. In 1993, he left the direction of
The John Stevens Shop to his son,
Nicholas "Nick" Benson and returned to sculpting full-time. Latterly Benson was doing portrait and figurative work in clay and bronze at his studio in Newport, Rhode Island. He died in Newport on June 13, 2024, at the age of 85. == Awards ==