Binky Augsberg
| Binky Augsberg | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | |||||||
| Sex | F | ||||||
| Birth name | Nguyen Binh Ky | ||||||
| Birth date | 1961 | ||||||
| Birth place | Vietnam | ||||||
| Spouse | Steve Augsberg | ||||||
Children
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Nguyen Binh Ky or Binky was a Vietnamese boat girl, rescued at the age of 17 in 1978. She married Steve Augsberg in 1983BAR711 and has at least two children, Hunter, born in 1984, and Tabitha born 1985. Hunter was named after the Hunter brothers, a pair of Baptist ministers.AF25 One was the US Navy Chaplain that helped rescue her and the other found her a home in Moffatt. "The family I lived with was Finnish, and they had a Finnish accent real bad. For a long time I spoke English with both a Vietnamese and a Finnish accent, yaah, you betcha."HP5
Binky is a very successful real estate broker in Spearfish Lake with a knack for matching buyers and houses plus a love for haggling. She started out as a receptionist at Northwoods Realty shortly after she and Steve had been married, and soon discovered that she'd been put on earth to deal real estate. She now owns the company. DW63 She is instrumental in putting several couples in their houses, from the McMahon'sBAR713 to the Archer's.FtS21
Binky's reputation took off after "she'd managed to sell the old Wayne and Donna Clark house for $450,000, about $400,000 more than Wayne's son, Brent, and Donna's son, Frank Matson, ever thought that anybody in their right mind would be willing to pay for the old lumber baron's mansion."BAR711 If a character is moving in or to Spearfish Lake, undoubtedly Binky will find their new home for them. She will speculate on some properties, purchasing a home for later resale and keeping some as rentals.HP5
In the spring of 2000, Binky settles John and Candice Archer and their two children in a home downtown near Central Ave that was previously owned by George Lindquist.FtS21 Later in December 2001, Binky arranges for Trey Hartwell and Myleigh Harris to purchase the home formerly owned by Lisa deLine.BB36
Binky is an important character in the book Absent Friend in that she teaches Vietnamese to the members of the Toivo Expedition and then later joins them on the trip to Vietnam to act as interpreter. "It went so well that a few years later Steve and I took the kids to Vietnam. It was just a regular tourist trip, just so they’d have a little idea of what that side of their ancestry involved and how good it is to be an American."HP5
Binky rented one half of a duplex to Tricia York and later gave an awesome deal on the other half to Henry McMahon. At their wedding she admitted she had figured that putting the two of them next to each other might allow nature to take its course – which it had.HP33
