Pursuits of Happiness

• Publication year: 2016
• Pages: 8
• Citation: Vol. 42 No. 2 Pg. 8

PURSUITS OF HAPPINESS Vol. 42 No. 2 Pg. 8 Vermont Bar Journal Summer, 2016

Ping-Pong- An Interview with Bernie Lambek

Jennifer Emens-Butler, Esq., J.

VBA: I am sitting in the office of Zalinger, Cameron & Lambek, PC here in Montpe-lier to interview Bernie Lambek. Most of us know Bernie as a very well-respected attorney. Bernie, you and I go back quite a ways working on farm cases over the years. And many of our readers also know you from your work for the Vermont Bar Foundation, for which you have gone above and beyond, having recently received an award from the VBF. Today, however we are here to interview you about something that most of our readers don't know about you.

My understanding is that you are a ping pong aficionado, shall we say.

Bernie Lambek: Yes, that's a good word.

VBA: We have a new Vermont Bar Journal Department where we will be interviewing attorneys that have fascinating pursuits outside the practice of law, whether they be artistic, literary, philanthropic or athletic—pursuits that bring them happiness. It struck me as very interesting that most people don't know that you are a pretty darn good ping pong player. Is it competitive ping pong?

BL: Yes, I play both, well I play at 2 different clubs, 2 or 3 times a week, in a rather non-competitive atmosphere, but I also play tournaments where the mood changes, you get more competitive and get ratings. And, yeah, I like that level.

VBA: So I play ping pong, but tournaments to me are where you are on vacation, you sign up to play in your flip-flops and get schooled by some 9-year old from another country, but you are talking about a much higher level of ping pong here, right?

BL: Well, I have gotten schooled by some 9-year olds! Seriously, I have played in a couple of Massachusetts tournaments and there are some kids in the Boston area who are really extraordinarily good players, and they are kids.

VBA: And they can move.

BL: Yeah.

VBA: It is a sport, so you have to be pretty fit to play ping pong?

BL: Yeah, but look, the best players in the world, of course, are really fit, but there are players who are really good who don't necessarily move well; it's a matter of how well you control the game. So you don't have to be a terrific athlete to be a really good ping pong player.

VBA: Alright, so when you say tournaments, is there a Vermont team or how is this set up for competition?

BL: So the 2 most established clubs in Vermont host a couple of tournaments every year, and that's the Green Mountain Club, which is in Rutland, and the Champlain Valley Club which is in Shelburne. What you are looking at are a couple of...