Lee Benson

Park City

Columnist at Deseret News

Native Utahn, longtime DNews columnist

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Articles

Climbing the mountain within

5 days ago | deseret.com | Lee Benson

This past April, during an extended spring break, Renee DeHaan - Ms. DeHaan to the students at Wasatch Middle School, where she is the vice principal - trekked into Everest Base Camp, the fabled high-altitude outpost that is the launching point for pushes to the summit of Mount Everest, the world's tallest mountain.
Happy birthday to the world's best newspaper

1 week ago | deseret.com | Lee Benson

I was 12 years old when I started working for the Deseret News. The hows and whys I got the job are lost to history - I'm sure it had a lot to do with Gilbert Benson, aka my father, who was a big proponent of child labor, i.e., kids having a job. All I know is, one day, my twin brother Dee and I were informed we had a paper route. We'd be delivering the Deseret News in the evenings during the week and the Salt Lake Tribune on Sunday mornings. I can still remember the route numbers: 605-C and 605-D.
A story of grit, gumption and changes galore

1 week ago | deseret.com | Lee Benson

And a happy birthday to us. The Deseret News is 175 years old this month. The inaugural edition came off the presses - or press, as there was just one - in a small adobe building on South Temple Street in Great Salt Lake City on June 15, 1850. There were 220 copies that went on sale that Saturday at the rate of $2.50 for a six-month subscription or 15 cents for a single copy ($6.15 today).
Utah's tallest building also boasts its cleanest air

2 weeks ago | deseret.com | Lee Benson

For years, the most centrally located place to get a fast-food hamburger in downtown Salt Lake City was at the corner of State Street and 200 South, a fact not unknown or unappreciated by Deseret News employees back when the newspaper's offices were less than half a block away on Regent Street. It seemed a street corner only big enough for a Carl's Jr., a drive-thru lane and a small parking area was destined to serve charbroiled burgers forever.
He doesn't sell cars, he sells Porsches … and a lot of them

2 weeks ago | ksl.com | Lee Benson

SALT LAKE CITY — For going on 40 years, he has held court, the last 33 of them here on South State Street, a legend in his own time and of his own making, a salesman nonpareil who, according to Michael Baich, the longtime sales manager at Porsche of Salt Lake, "has got to be top five in the world, if not higher."Meet Z.A. Konarski, a Polish immigrant who sells German luxury cars in America. The story of how he got here is as inimitable as how he became a superstar at selling Porsches.
He doesn't sell cars, he sells Porsches ... and a lot of them

3 weeks ago | deseret.com | Lee Benson

For going on 40 years, he has held court, the last 33 of them here on South State Street, a legend in his own time and of his own making, a salesman nonpareil who, according to Michael Baich, the longtime sales manager at Porsche of Salt Lake, "has got to be top five in the world, if not higher."Meet Z.A. Konarski, a Polish immigrant who sells German luxury cars in America. The story of how he got here is as inimitable as how he became a superstar at selling Porsches.
A Memorial Day reminder to look out for the veterans among us

1 month ago | ksl.com | Lee Benson

SALT LAKE CITY — "I got you."Terry Schow was on the phone with a young woman who had experienced an episode of sexual trauma when she was serving in the armed forces. She had filed a claim with the Veterans Administration, but the counselor she talked to only made her feel worse about her situation. Desperate, at her rope's end, she called Schow, a former Green Beret who served in Vietnam and in the 55-plus years since has made it his life's work to help fellow veterans.
A Memorial Day reminder to look out for the veterans among us

1 month ago | deseret.com | Lee Benson

"I got you."Terry Schow was on the phone with a young woman who had experienced an episode of sexual trauma when she was serving in the armed forces. She had filed a claim with the Veterans Administration, but the counselor she talked to only made her feel worse about her situation. Desperate, at her rope's end, she called Terry, a former Green Beret who served in Vietnam and in the 55-plus years since has made it his life's work to help fellow veterans.
From Jan's kitchen to the shelves at Costco

1 month ago | ksl.com | Lee Benson

HIGHLAND — To understand how a protein snack the size of a Ping-Pong ball made it from a kitchen in Highland to a collection of Costco stores along the Wasatch Front — with reportedly more to come — you have to go back to the 2020 Utah high school 6A tennis championships. Allison Story and her partner, Emma Reynolds, won the state championship that year in doubles, helping their school, Lone Peak High, to a second-place finish in the large school division.
She's feeding those in need, 1 taco at a time

1 month ago | ksl.com | Lee Benson

SALT LAKE CITY — Just so you know, this story was not Megan's idea. Megan Akar is a 26-year-old woman who works in the federal building in the heart of downtown Salt Lake City. She's at a good time of life. She's young, healthy, energetic, has her college degree (in global studies from Dixie State). She got married last fall. She has a good job. So what's next? Well, feed those who are hungry, for one.