His mother, Esther Fisher Smith Benson, spoke using the archaic pronouns of Quaker "plain speech.

[3][4] He designed and carved gravestones for Tennessee Williams, Lillian Hellman, and George Balanchine.

[5] He drew various photo-typefaces for architectural applications and a titling typeface, called Aardvark, for The Font Bureau in Boston, Alexa, Balzano, and Caliban.

[6] In 1993, he left the direction of The John Stevens Shop to his son, Nicholas "Nick" Benson and returned to sculpting full-time.

[7] Latterly Benson was doing portrait and figurative work in clay and bronze at his studio in Newport, Rhode Island.