Ben Jakuben has joined the chat

Leaving home for freshman year of college is an anxious time in anyone’s life. At least it was for me, and I was only moving 20 miles from my home in Mentor to Cleveland’s CWRU campus. I was an only child leaving my loving and supportive parents, my big backyard with the weeping willows, and a reliable 1987 Oldsmobile Delta 88.

Actual photo of my Delta 88. Note the shadow on the driveway. How I miss that basketball hoop.

But I had a friend making the move with me. Ben Jakuben and I had circled each other in Mentor intramural sports for years but didn’t really know each other all that well until we both got into Case and decided to be roommates. We moved into Kusch House on Case’s south side in August of 1998 with four strangers from across the country and for someone who’s a bit of an introvert, having a built-in friend made all the difference. Ben and I became instant best buds, inseparable. As I walked campus that fall, new friends would accidentally greet me as “Ben” because apparently we were the same person, and that was fine by me. I don’t care what you call me, as long as you call me!

Ben also brought his crappy red Chevy Cavalier to campus and let me borrow it. I probably still owe him gas money.

That was 27 years ago. My God.

A lot has changed in 27 years. The mind boggles. One thing that hasn’t changed is our non-stop thread of conversation over the decades, much of it by email from various cubicles. At turns hilarious, deep, or profane (or, at best, all three), I think our thousands of emails (or our modern-day letters) would fill several volumes and was the forge to help develop who I am as a thinker, a writer, and a person. Ben always told me that I had a voice and that I should share it publicly. It took me until past my 40th birthday to begin publishing with SABR and then to focus on fiction.

Well, guess what – I always told Ben he had a voice to be shared as well, and now the time has come. I’m thrilled that Ben has decided to open his own blog on Substack at benjakuben.com. I’m subscribed and can’t wait to see what he has to say. If you know me, you already know Ben, so I’m sure you feel the same way.

His first short story, All the Queen’s Goats, won first place in its category in the NYC Midnight story competition and he’s awaiting Round 2 results.

Good luck, Ben!