Russell’s Story

It would take a novel to give a thorough picture of who Russell was.

Instead I will share snippets of some of the most formative events in his life.

Son to Frances and Harry Benedict

Brother to Stephen

Father of six daughters: Tevina, Nikki, Stephanie, Francesca, Barbara, Marianna

Foster father to one son: Mel

Grandfather of five: Francesca, Daniel, Giovanni, Alexandra and Erica

Great-Grand father of three: Rebekah, Rachel, Gavin

Russell was born in New York in 1924

He was the first of two boys, born to a New York Banker

His father working for Frank Vanderlip, had recently returned from a trip to Europe and Japan to access the financial state of the countries affected by World War l.

Their journey left them profoundly moved by the level of devastation. This no doubt had a significant impact on the way the Harry and Frances would raise their two boys.

By age 6 his parents, Frances and Harry realized that they were going to have their hands full raising Russell. He was bright, inquisitive, and extremely self-assured.

Russell attended private school’s and, through his parents, was exposed to many of the most brilliant minds of

his time.

His ventures into his future careers began early in his teen years as he created his own newspaper, thanks to a printing press his father gave him. Unfortunately this was also the beginning of his sleeplessness. His father was endlessly frustrated Russell’s habits of working through the night on his newspaper. Russell often wrote and published articles that stretched way beyond the boundaries of propriety for his community.

In his young adulthood, while attending the University of Berkley in 1944, he became enthralled with the war effort. In a letter to his father, he declared that he was leaving Berkley to join the Merchant Marines. He attempted to convince his father to leave the banking business as his skills would be very valuable too!

Russell traveled to India with the Merchant Marines, where he experienced first hand the great famine, adults and children dying in the streets from starvation. This clearly was a significant turning point in Russell’s life.

Russell was fond of telling the story where, as a merchant Marine, he almost parished twice, first when a missile blasted through the engine room where he was working, just barely missing him, and, once when he continued playing his flute in the engine room, despite the threats on his life by his fellow shipmates if he didn’t stop.

In the years following the war, he met his wife Julie, and after being acquainted for two weeks, eloped and headed off to Europe to attend the World Federalism Conferences. His bother Stephen also participated. Julie and Russell returned home to the United States two years later as Julie insisted that their first child, Tevina, would be born in the United States. Russell and Julie would go on to produce a total of six daughters.

The fifties saw his brother Steve working in the White House for President Eisenhower. Back in the United States, Russell began prospecting for Uranium.

By now he had four daughters: Tevina, Nikki, Stephaine and Baby Francesca. At one point they lived in a trailer, guarding a uranium claim in Rinconada Canyon. Russell provided them, especially his side kick, Tevina, with many many unusual experiences that a typical young girl could never imagine.

Baby Francesca died after only a few weeks of life was buried atop the Mesa that overlooked their Uranium claim.

After the uranium days and a period as a newspaper editor

Russell joined on to the Kennedy campaign where he produced and published the West Coast Kennedy Campaign Newsletter. Following Kennedy’s election, Russell participated in setting up the Peace Corps and worked for the Migrant Division of the Agriculture department.

Barbara and Marianna, Russell and Julies 5^th and 6^th daughters were born in California in the early sixties. Russell spent a lot of time away on the road working for his various causes including working with the migrant farm workers movement and participating in the civil rights movements of the deep south.

He recounted a story once where he was helping to transport a black family across the Georgia state line when he was stopped by the police who aimed a gun at his head and said “ tell me why I shouldn’t shoot you” Obviously Russell’s fine art of persuasion must have saved him, as he later was able to take Tevina to see Martin Luther Kings “I have a Dream speech” in Washington D.C.

His daughter Nikki, who accompanied him on some of his migrant farm- workers projects, was later killed in a still unsolved crime.

His later years represented his devotion to feeding the homeless and less fortunate. He began “Waste Not of Washington D.C.” where he received a proclamation from the Mayor and blessings from Mother Theresa herself. He was often a one man show, but never waned in his dedication to his cause.

After a brutal mugging in Washington D.C. in his food warehouse, he was left with 133 stitches in his head and two broken wrists.

He went to Oregon to recuperate with the help of his daughter Tevina, his son-in law Dave and his granddaughter Erica. In the 14 years that followed he continued his food program, now under the name of Waste-Not of Oregon.

His oldest daughter, Tevina, recently died in a tragic fall two years ago, leaving Russell along with entire family scrambling to create a new reality, however painful.

Russell’s beautiful, handcrafted sign, warning hikers of the to stay back from the dangerous cliff still graces the Cliffside at Strawberry hill.

Although Russell health began to fail rapidly after Tevina’s death, he stayed active, riding his bike, attending family soccer games and delivering free coffee to whom ever needed it.

In his last days, he wanted to know if he had made a difference in the world. How would he be remembered?

The answer is found in the countless stories, some funny - some, not so funny, that we are left to record for him.

His brother Steven has done the lion’s share of the work by preserving Russell’s letters into several notebooks.

The rest will be up to his family to finally re-write Russell lost memoirs, Mikey Mouse is My Co-Pilot.