Bengaley Summercat

July 27, 2024

Bengaley Summercat, also known as Ben and Summer (real name Henry Thiel; born August 28th, 1985), is a furry fan, a former Fur Affinity administrator, and the editor of Anthroview and Tales from the Neon Phoenix, who lives in Northern Virginia, USA.

Fandom involvement
Bengaley Summercat claims to have been a furry since he was a little kid, but was not introduced to the furry fandom until the fall of 1999, when a friend he met at high school introduced him to the Star Fox franchise. Bengaley had already created his handle based on the character Ben Gali from Thundercats, and simply reused the name as his fursona.

Summercat continued to lurk around the edges of the furry community until 2003, when he attended the furry Christmas party held at the The Prancing Skiltaire with close friend, Vorenth. He then attended the last Rick's Café Terrestrienne party, and has continued to show up at the PS parties for the last four years. Since 2003, Bengaley has further involved himself in the local Southern California furry community, and has stated a goal to further the cause of Unporn.

In 2006, Summercat attended his first furry convention, Califur 2, where he started his first furry sketchbook. Afterwards, due to a case of mistaken identity by Kurt Miller, he was volunteered onto the con's staff to assist with electronic gaming for Califur 3, and has since then become an official Califur staff member.

At Califur III, Bengaley was introduced to Rowrbrazzle, and became a member of that publication. He's has expressed his elation at being able to join, as the publication was known to him as to have been central in assisting the start of the furry fandom, as well as being older than he is.

Fursonas
Bengaley Summercat's main fursona is an otter, but he is known for giving people a headache with the large number of other fursona and persona characters he has. This includes a very unique rainbow skunk known as Uriel that is 65% straight and 35% gay.

Convention attendance

 * Califur - 2006, 2007, 2008
 * Further Confusion - 2006

Art
A tradition started at Califur II, Summercat's sketchbooks are filled with art from a variety of sources, with a large portion of which from Hobbpanda, another local Californian furry. Summercat has set two rules for any picture he begs from artists, that the artist draw something, and sign it.

The first Sketchbook runs from Califur 2 (Pirates of the Furry Main), and was filled at Further Confusion 2006 (The Fur East).