Athens, GA Shooting Victim Ben Teague

Went to school with in Oak Ridge Tennessee. In same grade. Benny was killed 3 weeks prior to our high school reunion. Because of the location in which we grew up, many of the children who went to Oak Ridge HS were expected to do great things. Cudos were heaped upon us from the day we started school. We were a standardizing school for many of, then very popular, tests for admission into college and various acadamies. Benny ranked in as a genius IQ and, though, quiet in high school, he was well known for working on the Year Book and keeping us up with the intellectual side of life. No cheer leading popularity noted here, but a guy with a slow, wry sense of humor who sometimes hung on the edges and then popped into the middle of the frey when things "were happening". Benny left Oak Ridge, went to Rice and then was not heard from again by the mainstream. He lived a short distance away but did not attend reunions or keep up with his high school buddies. That part of life was over for him. As I recall, he was listed as "lost" on our lists for reunions. Many of us did not attend our last reunion. I live in the Phoenix area and no longer have parents living in Oak Ridge, so saw no real reason to attend. It has become more popular in our area to get together with small groups of people whom we liked well than to attend a mass gathering. That way we can pick a place we would like to go that is eguidistant and meet for a good time. As one of my good friends said, many great things were expected of our classmates. Benny tested in the true genius standards on tests and was a true genius early before many of us thought to learn to translate Russian or far Eastern Languages. Benny started early learning the basics: Latin, yearbood, English writing technique. And as usual, he has popped into the mainstream just as Obama comes into office and "things are happening."
I send my regrets to his family.