English professor publishes novel after lifetime of writing

If Squire Babcock had an employment passport, it would be full of stamps. Babcock, associate professor of English and philosophy and Master of Fine Arts Director, has worked as a ballroom dance instructor, farm hand, weigh-man at a cotton gin, hunting guide, pool table repair mechanic, small business owner, carpenter, free-lance writer and blues drummer, all before finding himself as a professor at Murray State and soon-to-be published author of his first novel, "The King of Gaheena." "I don't think I ever decided to become a writer," Babcock said. "It was just something that surfaced in me that is just inevitable." Babcock said he wrote his first short story at age 11 and has always had a passion for reading. "I think that is a very familiar story," Babcock said. "A lot of writers begin as readers … I was just very excited about what can happen in a book, and the excitement of reading and so fourth just led me to want to write." Babcock has made his way in literature but he took the long road getting there. He dropped out of college five days after his freshman year began and went to work in the pool table business. "I was making money, but somehow I felt like I was drying up inside. So, I sold my pool table business and decided to go to college," Babcock said. Babcock decided to enroll at the University of Massachusetts Amherst at the age of 30 to study creative writing. When he completed his undergraduate degree, Babcock accepted a teaching position at a local boarding school near the area, which he himself had attended. Babcock then taught at a Massachusetts middle school for three years, while free-lancing for a newspaper and writing fiction. He then decided to return to school to complete his mater's degree. "I decided to get serious about writing and I went back to the University of Massachusetts and their graduate creative writing program," Babcock said. "Then it became clearer that teaching at the university level was something I wanted to do. It was sort of a gradual unfurling of a career. I didn't have this idea that I wanted to be a teacher until well into my 30s and I didn't become a professor until I was 40." Babcock said he was always writing no matter his occupation at the time. He said he finds pleasure in writing because it allows him to process events from his life. "(Writing) starts for me in a private way," Babcock said. "Writing is the way that I kind of make my way through the world and a lot of writing I do is just for me, but a lot of writing I do is also to reach out and try to explain the world to myself and other people." Babcock described his first book as a coming-of-age novel filled with drama and suspense. He said the concept for the novel began about eight years ago stemming from a short story he wrote about 30 years ago. The novel is set in 1972 and revolves around a 20-year-old Louisville, Ky., man from a wealthy family whose parents are killed in a car accident and leave him their family business, The Turtle Playing Card Company. He is forced to deal with several new responsibilities, including running the family business, maintaining a hunting preserve his parents owned and dealing with accusations that he may be to blame for his parent's accident. The novel is being published by Motes Books of Louisville, Ky., and is expected to be released nation-wide in early fall. Babcock is currently arranging a book tour and readings for after the novel's release. "It's exciting to think people are going to read my book," Babcock said. "There is a huge sense of relief mixed with exhilaration." Kelsey Sykes, sophomore from Murray, is currently taking a creative non-fiction class taught by Babcock and she said she enjoys having him as a professor because he is open-minded about subject material. "He encourages us as writers to explore different areas of our own lives, to connect the personal to the universal," Sykes said. "He seems genuinely interested in what we have to say, not just as students, but as future peers in the writing field, and he encourages all of us to go further with our work even after the class is over. I know this course with him has excited a lot of us to really pursue our writing further." Greg Humkey, senior from Midway, Ky., said Babcock pushes his students to be the best writers possible with his honesty and confidence. "As a professor, he makes sure to keep the class interesting with his creative personality, which I could imagine helps him be a great writer," Humkey said. "It is neat for a student to be able to read his professors work first hand and I look forward to the release of his book." Michael Watson, senior from Jackson, Tenn., has had Babcock for two creative writing workshops. "He really helped me improve my writing skills," Watson said. "His take on modern literature is very fresh and profound and I learned about it from him. I can't speak on confidence in him as a writer because I have never read his work, but he is an excellent professor in my opinion. (He is) one of the best in the English department." Babcock's writing has appeared in national publications including The Colorado Review, The Louisville Review and the Old Hickory Review. In addition to his novel "The King of Gaheena," he is currently completing a memoir titled "Wrestling the Horned Beast" based on his experience with a Louisville man he grew up knowing as a family friend who had a sex change operation. He is also working on a book of personal essays called "The Land Between The Lakes" about being a parent to his daughter. Ashley Edwards can be reached at ashleyb. edwards@murraystate.edu.