Former ATA President Ben Teague was shot and killed Saturday afternoon by a University of Georgia professor at a reunion picnic of community theater volunteers. Details are sketchy, but Ben’s step-brother gives a brief account of the shooting in his blog. According to that account, Ben died trying to protect the apparent target, the shooter’s ex-wife.

Ben and I began our translating careers at roughly the same time in the early 1970s here in Austin. He was active in the local t/i community, co-founding the Translators Association of Central Texas (TRACT) and encouraging colleagues to join ATA. We actually took our accreditation (now certification) exams in Austin at one of the first sittings ever held.

Since we both translated from Russian at that time (he later dropped Russian to concentrate on German translating), we often hashed over thorny linguistic problems. I probably benefited more from his expertise than he did from mine. When his wife Fran joined the faculty at the University of Georgia, the Teagues moved to Athens, so we continued our consultations long-distance.

I will remember him for his wit, intelligence, and generosity, some evidence of which appears on Ben’s website. I hope others who knew and loved Ben and Fran will share their memories in the comments to this post.