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Ben B. Randall, age 71, left this
world in December of 2006
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Link to Ben |
A huge repertoire of ideas expressed in music, innovative computer
systems, and a plethora of other pursuits are left in the wake of this great
man.
If there were any one thing Ben leaves us with it might be the
knowledge that you can do your dreams and you can be what you choose to
be. He did it all; he is pure
proof of concept.
From Ben we learned (at least) two important things:
1. There is no limit to what you can
accomplish so long as you are willing to give up the credit.
2.
Never, ever let anyone tell you
that you can’t become what you want to be; that you can’t
achieve your dreams. You can, so
get going.
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Ben Randall was born in 1935 in
Orinda,
California.
He married and had children. In 1977 he met the love of his life, Ana
Perez, and they were inseparable. They spent the past 31 years living all
over the world until settling in his original home in
Orinda.
Ben was successful as a computer software designer specializing in
apparel business systems. He designed sophisticated systems for many
apparel companies including Levi Strauss & Co. His systems were used throughout the
United States
by Levi. He worked long hours to
bring these systems to fruition and he was revered by everyone with whom he
worked as someone who could make seemingly impossible things work. Many can say that it was Ben Randall who
inspired their careers in computer programming. There was never a dull moment when
working with Ben.
After a long and distinguished career in computers, Ben took up jazz drumming
where he had left off in the 1950’s.
Over the last ten years of his life he lived and breathed jazz
whether at the
Berkeley
Jazz
School,
at cafes, bars, and restaurants around the San Francisco Bay Area, or
outdoors near the tunnel on Sundays at
Golden Gate Park.
Ben became a mentor to many jazz musicians
helping them to get started, to keep playing, or to just play more.
He published an instruction jazz drumming book because it had to happen and
was awarded patent number 6,414,230 for his jazz drumming ride pattern flip
chart tool invention.
Ben was unbelievably generous with his time, his money, his enthusiasm,
his heart, his quirky sense of humor, and his friendship.
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