Ben F. Williams, Jr. Storyteller/ October guest speaker

League meetings have wonderful, informative guest speakers as well as delicious luncheons, especially when the recipe is from Tastes & Treasures cookbook. Don't miss October 4 meeting with Ben F. Williams, Jr.

Ben–a fifth-generation Arizonan whose father and grandfather owned ranches in Arizona, Sonora and Chihuahua–retired from the practice of law after 50 years and took up writing about the Old West. He is a regular contributor to the Tombstone Epitaph newspaper, and has published articles in Range magazine and Precision Shooting magazine. Ben is a former City Attorney of Tombstone and four-term Mayor of Douglas (1980-1988).

Taking life on both sides of the border as his canvas, Ben has brought his stories to book form. His first two books–Tales of My Southwest and More Tales of My Southwest–convey the ups and downs of life along the ranching and mining frontiers of the Mexican border from the 1800s to the present day.

Ben’s new book, Pancho Villa : A Lifetime of Vengeance , began as a short story. Ben says once he started delving into the research and realized how many times Pancho Villa had crossed his family’s path during the Mexican revolutions, the simple short story grew into a book.


Bruce J. Dinges, Editor, Journal of Arizona History/Arizona Historical Society comments, "Storytelling may be an endangered art form in our information age, and that’s a shame. Attorney and former Douglas mayor Ben F. Williams, Jr. reminds us of the old-fashioned charm of a good story, well told . . . Williams captures the small moments – childhood pranks and human foibles – that bring smiles of recognition because they say something universal about the human condition."