Foreman of Vaughn Eisenhart's Rocking B ranch and father of young Benny, Ben Slightman is a familiar figure at the council meetings that fill the early days of Roland's ka-tet in Calla Bryn Sturgis. A practical, self-contained man, he wears a pair of spectacles - a rare and valued thing in the Calla - and is fiercely devoted to his son.