BUZZWORTHY
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Wayne
THE “CONCRETE”
COMES TO TOWN
Wayne
IMMIGRANT STORIES,
WRITTEN BY A NATIVE
OF SRI LANKA
Wayne resident and NYU professor of
psychology RUVANEE VILHAUER has
won the prestigious Iowa Short Fiction
Award for 2018 for her book The Water
Diviner and Other Stories. In the collection,
Sri Lankan immigrants grapple with events
that challenge perspectives and alter lives.
In one story, a volunteer faces memories
of wartime violence when she meets
a cantankerous old lady on a Meals on
Wheels route; in another, a lonely widow
obsessed with an impending apocalypse
meets an oddly inspiring man. The author
grew up in Sri Lanka and lived in India,
Thailand, Canada and Australia before
settling in the United States. Her short
fiction has been broadcast on BBC Radio
4, and her essays and short stories have
appeared in numerous literary magazines.
• The Water Diviner and Other Stories is
available on Amazon.com.
8
SPRING 2019 WAYNE MAGAZINE
Wayne
LIVE IN WAYNE AND KEEP LEARNING
If you’re a “lifelong learner”—and when is it a good thing to stop
learning?—you’ll find a lot to love in Wayne, New Jersey. So says
Money Magazine, which recently published a list of BEST PLACES TO
RETIRE TO within the US. Using metrics such as economic health, cost
of living, health care, crime, diversity, quality of life and access to ame-
nities, the magazine’s editors, in partnership with realtor.com, conclud-
ed that Wayne is a town to consider retiring to if you enjoy continuing
your education. Des Plaines, Ill., was deemed best in this category.
VILHAUER:
Good news for fans of the concrete,
crinkle-cut fries and other delights found
at SHAKE SHACK: The popular fast
and affordable eatery recently opened
a branch in Wayne. (Until now, area resi-
dents had to drive to Paramus, Garden
State Plaza, Livingston or Manhattan for
their Shake Shack fix.) “We wanted to
open in a spot where we already had
loyal customers,” says Jeff Amoscato,
vice president of Supply Chain and
Menu Innovation at Shake Shack, of
opening a Wayne location. “It was a nat-
ural fit being so close to our corporate
offices [in New York].” The 3,540 square-
foot Wayne Shake Shack has both
employees and kiosks to take orders,
and features an outdoor patio area,
tabletops made by reclaimed bowling
alley lanes, booths made of lumber
certified by the Forest Stewardship
Council and chairs made with sustain-
able materials. • 96 Willowbrook Blvd.,
Wayne; shakeshack.com, (862) 684-8660