Class Note 1988
Michael Babick, who lives in Croton-on-Hudson, New York, shared the following update: “I currently work part-time in structured finance, the same line of work that I have been doing since graduating from Penn State business school. The part-time work and being single with no kids provides me with a lot of time for golf, biking and hiking the local trails in Westchester County, New York, with my flat-coated retriever, Otis (yes, named after Otis in Animal House). In addition to Eric Olson, I see Frank Wang regularly when he is around the New York area for various sporting events in which his children participate. Jim Crane is also nearby in Katonah, New York, and has children approaching college age, which will, I hope, free up some more time for golf with Jim in the near future.” Otis is Michael’s second rescue dog; he got him about five years ago, when Otis was 4. According to Michael, Otis loves Frank Wang and sometimes serves as Frank’s pillow when he visits.
You may have caught the mention of Jay Kumar in the May/June issue of this magazine. It prompted me to reach out for a more personal update. Jay lives in Lebanon, New Jersey, with his wife Catherine, son Connell (15) and daughter Lily (13), and runs SASQ Media, a business he founded. In addition to creating and publishing digital content targeted at enthusiasts, SASQ Media also provides consulting services for other digital media businesses. (And, if you’re wondering what Jay and company mean by “enthusiasts,” they mean individuals who have a passion for something, which could be a sport or other pastime, or a product, family of products, a lifestyle or a particular brand or anything else.) Jay writes: “Cath is good, working for the family biz (consulting side). Connell is a freshman, playing lax at Seton Hall Prep. Lily is in seventh, wishing she was in ninth so the evil girl thing would be over. She’s also into the sprints and very close to God, which is very cool. Went to the Florida Keys for my 50th (sorta)—always wanted to go—didn’t catch a single dang fish! God for sure has a sense of humor.”
Matthew Lansburgh recently wrote in to share the news that his collection of linked stories, Outside Is the Ocean, won the 2017 Iowa Short Fiction Award and is forthcoming from the University of Iowa Press in October. In selecting Matthew’s book as the winner of this prize, Andre Dubus III described the book as “mesmerizing.” Matthew first started writing fiction at Dartmouth, where he won the Grimes Prize and had a play produced in the Frost Competition. After college Matthew received a J.D. from Stanford Law School, then moved to N.Y.C., where he lives with his partner, Stan Hsue. Matthew earned an M.F.A. in creative writing from New York University in 2015 and has published short fiction in several national journals, including Glimmer Train, Ecotone and StoryQuarterly. You can find out more about his writing by visiting him at matthewlansburgh.com. On top of all of that, Matthew continues to practice law three days a week as an in-house lawyer for Hudson’s Bay Co.
As hard as it is to believe, we are beginning our 30th year out; in fact, 33 years ago many of us were on our freshman trips or getting ready to start classes in Hanover. Please mark your calendars for our upcoming 30th reunion, which will be June 14-17, 2018. If you want to help, please contact reunion co-chairs Anne Chmielewski-Kushwaha and Taylor Thomas at d8830thcochairs@gmail.com. Keep the news coming!
—Jere Mancini, 34 Wearimus Road, HoHoKus, NJ 07423; d88correspondent@gmail.com
