Category: Ben Reach

A Boy and a Derby

August 19, 2026 | Ben Reach, Short Stories | Comments
Ben Reach had a place reserved for the lad in his heart. He had promised the father to look out for the boy. The father was Wally Steel, an all-age field trial trainer-handler based in Lee County who had died in his prime from lung cancer, cursed by his cigarette-smoking habit. At that time the boy, Sammy Steel, had been eighteen and apprenticing under his father, following the trial circuit fall to spring, training in North Dakota July to mid-September. After Wally’s death Sammy had been trying to carry on with his string. Wally’s owners liked Sammy but were unsure he had what it took to make it. The four owners would give him a chance for a season with the dogs they had with Wally at his death, but placed no new prospects with him. Sammy had partnered up to travel in one rig with a contemporary of his father, Dan Eanes, also based in Lee County. Read more

Illegal

July 7, 2026 | Ben Reach, Short Stories | Comments
Ben Reach had warned Pete-Bob Dix from the start not to embark on his quest to make money from “portability,” a feature of the federal estate and gift tax law since 2011. Under portability, a spouse could give to a surviving spouse on death his or her unused gift and estate tax exemption. When Pete-Bob repeatedly asked Ben supposedly hypothetical questions about the portability rules, Ben said, “Do not ask me for advice about “portability.” Ben knew how Pete-Bob’s mind worked and thus the opportunities Pete-Bob saw in “portability” from reading about it in the Wall Street Journal. Read more

A Hiring Choice

April 20, 2026 | Ben Reach, Short Stories | Comments
Ben Reach was often asked for advice by quail plantation owners on hiring decisions. It was not for legal advice but people advice, or in modern parlance, Human Resources advice. Ben was known as a sound judge of human beings, of character and management skill, particularly in the quail plantation realm. For a person to manage traditional quail hunts, horseback and mule-wagon type, the first consideration was safety. This required skill and judgment and what Ben and Sam called First Responder attitude. A person who never lets anything distract them from safety. Character was an equally important trait. Lack of it had ended the careers of many, in plantation management as in all jobs in requiring honesty, and that was all jobs. It was March. Fly fishing for panfish was much on the curmudgeons’ minds. Ron Silver, owner of Noyankees Plantation, had asked for a meeting with Ben (his lawyer for Georgia-centric problems) and Sam (his personal physician while in Georgia). In summer Ron lived in Massachusetts where he had made and still invested his considerable fortune. He had in Boston other lawyers and physicians. Read more

Another Pete-Bob Scheme

February 13, 2026 | Ben Reach, Short Stories | Comments
“Pete-Bob wants to see you,” Joanne greeted Ben as he arrived at his office Friday morning after breakfast at Millie’s Diner with Sam Nixon MD. “What about?” Ben asked, skepticism in his voice. “Says he has a special opportunity, just wants to be sure it is legal,” Joanne said. Read more

The Third Judge

January 27, 2026 | Ben Reach, Short Stories | Comments
Ben Reach no longer judged field trials, too old. But he had judged many, across the continent. His favorite was often punishing, due to its weather: The Quail Championship Invitational, run at Paducah, Kentucky, starting every Saturday after Thanksgiving. The trial ran just three days, and for only twelve dogs, the top twelve who accepted the challenge based on their all-age Purina Points. The dogs ran an hour Saturday, then another hour Sunday with a different brace-mate and at the opposite time of day. Then for Monday the judges called back as many as they wanted to see in a two-hour heat, usually four or two dogs. Read more

A Fair Deal

January 17, 2026 | Ben Reach, Short Stories | Comments
Albany, Georgia, lawyer Ben Reach met with Randy Culp on a Monday morning. Randy was a quail hunt manager and general hand on Sunny Slope Plantation near Thomasville. “What can I do for you, Randy?” Ben asked.  “It’s about Mom, Mr. Ben. She has cancer, not expected to live long. She asked me to see you about a will for her.” Read more

A Christmas Story

December 24, 2025 | Ben Reach, Short Stories | Comments
Pete-Bob Dix called Ben Reach and Joanne answered. “Miss Joanne, I need to see Mr. Ben and Doc Nixon urgent. I got a problem only they can fix, maybe, I hope.” It was a week before Christmas, coming next Thursday. “What’s it about, Mr. Dix?” Read more

A Passing of the Torch ~ Part 1

October 13, 2025 | Ben Reach, Short Stories | Comments
Sam Nixon MD had endured a troubling week. He felt the need to talk it out with his pal, Ben Reach, at their customary Friday afternoon meeting at Ben’s office to plan the weekend’s fishing. “Ben, I have a problem, or one of my patient’s has: Al Scales has congestive heart failure.” Read more

The Plan

September 3, 2025 | Ben Reach, Short Stories | Comments
Ben Reach and Sam Nixon MD had long shared Ed Hale as a client-patient. They liked and admired him, but saw him as a victim of the ill effects of extreme wealth, especially in circumstances like Ed’s where there were three species of offspring—his, hers and theirs. Read more