Oliver Bennett: Attentive and
Quick-Witted
Oliver
Bennett, the younger and taller of the two Bennett sons,
was a passionate listener. Joy Bennett, his mother,
remembers him at gatherings: his head slightly lowered
and his eyes intent on the person talking to him. In his
quiet way, he drew attention. "You were always aware of
Oli," a friend told Mrs. Bennett. "He was a very, very
vital presence."
And, sometimes, a rather intimidating one. His
withering one-liners, Mrs. Bennett said, "could take your
breath away."
"You didn't cross Oli lightly. He let you know just
what he thought. At 13, he'd say, 'I don't agree with
you, Mom, but let's don't argue about it.' " His
decisions, she said, were absolute.
He loved to draw, she said. The Bennett home in
London, where he lived, is "littered" with his portraits.
But he studied economics and psychology and became a
financial writer for the Risk Water Group. On Sept. 11,
he was at its conference at Windows on the World. He
planned to quit journalism in a year, at 30, and open a
restaurant and bar where conversation would flow easily.
He saw himself as his own boss, the quiet center of the
bar's hubbub, with an ever-changing parade of people to
watch and listen to.
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