Tom Benjey

A comment at a talk presented by the local historical society on the Carlisle Indian School regarding Lone Star Dietz’s win in the first Rose Bowl in 1916 agitated the woman sitting next to Tom Benjey. “Oh no, Michigan won the first Rose Bowl in 1902 by trouncing Stanford.” A little research at home decided the issue. It depends on how you define what was the first Rose Bowl. What little Dr. Benjey found on Dietz piqued his curiosity on this fascinating person. The resulting coast-to-coast research spawned his first book “Keep A-goin’: The Life of Lone Star Dietz.” His work on Dietz’s time at Carlisle Indian School led to him studying the lives of 50 other Carlisle stars and writing: “Doctors, Lawyers, Indian Chiefs.” Even researching "Glorious Times: Adventures of the Craighead Naturalists" uncovered connections between the Indian School and the Craighead family. Now, after two decades of study, research and blog postings, he’s completed “Gridiron Gypsies: The Complete History of the Carlisle Indian School Football Team.” He and his Michigan wife, Ann, live in a Pennsylvania German limestone farmhouse a few miles from where the Carlisle Indians once lived, practiced, and played.