LAST SUMMER, BEN HORNE ’02, ALONG WITH HIS FRIEND GIL WEISS, DIED IN A MOUNTAIN CLIMBING ACCIDENT IN THE CORDILLERA BLANCA RANGE OF THE PERUVIAN ANDES. SINCE THEN, A VAST COMMUNITY OF FAMILY AND FRIENDS HAS GATHERED IN THE PLACES HORNE LOVED BEST — ON MOUNTAINS AND TRAILS, IN CHURCHES AND PARKS, IN THE HOMES OF FRIENDS AND FAMILY, AND ON RICE’S CAMPUS — TO REMEMBER AND CELEBRATE A LIFE LIVED WITH UNCOMMON JOY AND ACCOMPLISHMENT. DURING ONE OF THOSE SERVICES HELD IN SAN DIEGO LAST SUMMER, BEN’S CLOSE FRIEND SKYE SCHELL ’05 SUMMED UP HIS THOUGHTS: “BEN WAS INSPIRATION. THAT’S WHAT HE WAS TO ALL OF US. HE BROUGHT THE MESSAGE OF STOKE. SINCE WE’RE HERE IN CHURCH, WE COULD SAY HE WAS AN APOSTLE OF STOKE.”
O N E • FA M I LY F O U N DAT I O N S
At 6 feet 2 inches and approximately 185 pounds, Ben Horne stood tall and strong. His most defining features: a curly blond mop, sparkly blue eyes and an expansive smile. As evidenced by the entries in his blog, Zoom Loco, Horne was a prolific chronicler of his life’s experiences. By way of introduction there, he wrote, “My heroes are Tank Man, Tolstoy and Jesus Christ. I do believe that a better world is coming. My goal is to be the most complete person I can be. Full stop.” When Horne’s friends and family describe his life, the same adjectives are uttered time and again — inspiring, passionate, authentic. He loved mountains and sunsets. To a great extent, these traits can be traced to Horne’s early years, growing up in a warm and loving family, the oldest of Gary and Chris Horne’s four children. “Ben felt he had the best childhood experience because he lived in the country as a young kid, on a six-acre farm in south central Pennsylvania, moved to Hawaii and then close to D.C., so that he experienced all the benefits of a rural and suburban life,” Chris said. Horne learned basic hiking and backpacking skills by participating in the Boy Scouts, with great encouragement from Gary. The family often vacationed in the national parks of the American West and enjoyed family nights playing board games. Their religious faith played a large part in the family members’ lives, no doubt motivating Ben, as an adult, to seek out the divine in all he did — from rock climbing to his studies. His Catholic faith served as foundation for his pursuit of peace and conflict resolution in his future career. To his younger siblings (Eric, 30; Math, 26; and Liz, 22), “Ben was the big brother that all three looked up to,” said Chris Horne. He drove his younger brother Eric to school, loyally attended sporting events, and spent countless hours talking politics and music. He recorded songs with Math and, having always served as a mentor to Liz, shared his love of other cultures with her during a joint trip to Central America. In one of many eulogies delivered at Horne’s funeral in Virginia last August, Math said, “Ben’s week beats your year. He climbs unclimbable peaks after running inhuman distances only stopping to write, rap, pray or read up on how to start the revolution. He never settles or merely copes. People might say,
wholehearted. Unrelenting. He maintains the light. Persistent. Deliberate. He says it’s his 100 percent raw Lithuanian beef. I call it guts.” MATH’S EULOGY: ricemagazine.info/135 TWO • WIESSMAN
Because of Horne’s love for the mountains and outdoor pursuits, attending a school in Houston seemed a long shot — after all, it is flat. His parents remember that their son was won over by the bucolic tree-canopied campus and diverse student body, and so Horne entered the Class of 2002. He found a home at Wiess College, where current Dean of Undergraduates John Hutchinson and his wife, Paula, were then masters. On the academic side, Horne studied economics, math and political science. Soon enough, he made a name for himself as both the life of the party (though his drink of choice was orange juice) and a citizen-philosopher deeply engaged in service. Between his sophomore and junior years at Rice, Horne hiked the Appalachian Trail end-to-end by himself and at a near-recordsetting pace. The experience of solo hiking at such an impressionable age (he turned 20 en route) was transformative, he said. His
independent musicians. He was a DJ there for four years, the DJ director his junior year and station manager his senior year. Former station manager Johnny So ’01 credits Horne with changing the culture of the station, making it more open and accessible to the student body. At the dedication, So said, “Ben immediately stood out — here was a guy that was not only extremely involved in student life at Rice, he was actually popular! That alone was almost a disqualifier for working at KTRU.” When the 40-year-old station’s tower was sold in 2010 to the University of Houston, Horne, along with a dedicated group of KTRU alumni, opposed the sale. On savektru.org, he wrote, “KTRU is an idea. A philosophy. KTRU is not just a club. It is a cause. KTRU is, even, possibly a religion.” Ultimately the sale of the FM license went through, but the station survives as KTRU-HD radio, available through the Internet and mobile devices. To honor Horne’s advocacy and service, KTRU’s broadcast studio, located on the second floor of the Rice Memorial Center, was dedicated the Ben Horne Memorial Studio last October. During Rice’s centennial and reunion weekend (the 10th reunion for the Class of 2002), a group of Horne’s classmates and friends gath-
“I am sure many stories about Ben have been told these last few weeks, and many more will be told in the years to come. Tell those stories. Ben loved stories.” —Eric Horne, Aug. 7, 2012, Annandale, Va.
journals from that time reveal a maturing and probing mind. In one prophetic passage, he wrote, “The goal of changing things for the better can be reached — the key is to inspire others, to affect other people in little ways, and they in turn will continue to pass it down. When we seek personal glory, we can achieve transient fame; if we seek to better the world, we can contribute to lasting results. If we don’t pass it on, it will fade as memories of us fade.” At Rice, Horne felt immense pride for his work with KTRU, the student radio station, what he called “one of the greatest things about the university” and a platform for
ered in the Hindman Garden for an informal tribute of words and song. Horne’s parents flew in for this event, which was organized by Lizzie Taishoff Sweigart ’01. In a peaceful grove of giant live oaks, Dean Hutchinson, Liora Danan ’03, Adam Larson ’05, Josh Katz ’01, Josh Hale ’02, Iris Hurtado Wingrove ’02, Saheel Sutaria ’02, So and others took turns sharing stories of their college years. Sutaria and Wingrove first met Horne during O-Week. Hale was Horne’s freshman-year roommate. Their voices conjured memories of Freshman One-Act plays and “Hello, Hamlet”; of beach trips, spontaneous road trips, flag football and water-gun fights; of chasing and
Rice Magazine
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No. 15
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2013
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