Tim Benn ’57

Tim died unexpectedly Oct. 9, 2019, of a heart attack.

Although Tim was with us at Princeton only sophomore year, he described his experience there as a “life changer.” He arrived from the U.K. at age 17 when most of us were 19, skipping freshman year, only to have the British draft catch up with him. There followed two years as a platoon commander with the Scots Guards. Then came Cambridge, where he graduated in 1960.

Tim explained that before Princeton, he had been “incarcerated” at Harrow’s for four years, never let off the “hill.” At Princeton, “I grew up fast,” he said. Back in England, the discipline he’d acquired at Princeton working campus jobs and making friends while keeping up with courses served him well. He was the only officer assigned to a battalion on a war-footing ready for Suez. His Princeton friends included Irv Flinn, Tom Clements, Mike Delap, Peter Paine, Tim Sherwood, the Strang brothers, and Jack Vodrey. He joined Colonial Club.

After the Army and Harvard Business School, he joined the family publishing business, Benn Brothers, established 1880, whose authors included Joseph Conrad and H.G. Wells. He dramatically increased the share value. However, the board staged a coup, taking the business from him. Tim and his third wife, Christina, started another under his name, specializing in magazine publishing.