Ben Ewell
Ben Ewell was born and raised on a small farm near Brighton, Ohio. He received his BA from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, and his JD from UC Hastings College of Law in San Francisco, California. He practices law, specializing in water rights, in Fresno, California, where he resides with his wife, Suzanne. He is the father of five sons. He is also a developer whose projects include a New Town financed by foreign investors. Ben is active in his community, his church, and in politics, and he loves spending time with his family at his ranch in the Sierra Nevada foothills.
Not all books are for all readers….when you start a book and you just don’t like it, how long do you read until you bail?
When I start reading a book I usually decide in the first chapter or even the first part of the first chapter whether it is a book I want read through to the end. I like books, well, actually I love books, and now that I have written one I know and appreciate the hard work required to write one. It’s just that some books, either because of their subject, style or complexity that will result in me putting it down to look for another one to read.
Is there a work of art that you love. Why? Have you ever visited it in person?
The work of art I love is simple but I believe meaningful. It is an oil painting, “The Gleaners” by Jean Francois Millet. To me, this painting of three stooped over women searching a field that has already been harvested for even a few small grains symbolizes several things. First the workers are portrayed in a simple peasant way seemingly representing anonymous laborers in the world. In our current era of excess of material things the importance to some of even a tiny grain of wheat can be visualized in this painting. Hopefully we are moving back to a simpler time when even the smallest of things have value. I first saw a print of this painting in a beveled glass frame hanging in my Grandmother’s parlor when I was 7 or 8 years old. I have a print of the painting but have not seen the original that resides in the, Musee d’ Orsay in Paris.
Vacation druthers…City of Rural destination? Why?
I prefer to vacation in open spaces or country like settings. I grew up on a small farm in Ohio, surrounded by trees and greenery in the warm weather, a rainbow of colored leaves in the fall and the stillness of winter snows. While I don’t try to duplicate those same times and places I do like and value the setting of a particular vacation spot about as much as the facilities located there.
Is there another profession you would like to try?
Since my days in college and before going to Law School, I wanted to be in the U.S. Diplomatic Corps. I envisioned myself travelling to far off interesting and I thought exciting destinations. My oldest brother’s wife before their marriage graduated from the Thunderbird School of Foreign Trade and took a position with the US Central Intelligence Agency, traveling the world as I had thought about doing. To me it was the type of work and travel I wanted to do and thought I would like. However in the end I took the advice of that same brother who encouraged me to go in a different direction, and attend law school.
Do you collect anything? If so, what, why, and for how long?
I like to collect books, in particular those of a biographical nature. Sometimes I’m questioned by others about why I keep collecting books when I’m probably not going to read them all. It is difficult to understand and explain a desire to be surrounded by books even if you can’t read them all. My interest in books began when as a youth I visited a quite large library in a small nearby town. My interest continued and I began collecting books during college and law school.
