I didn't get to see Joe over the last few years, and it really had been a while
since we'd corresponded. People just lose touch sometimes. But I will never forget
him or the year I spent working with him and the years afterwards in which I really
got to know him. What always struck me about him was his unpredictability. For being
such an admirably consistent guy with such strong, reliable character, he could
still throw you off. When Joe and Tom and I worked together at the service
bureau--this was in 1996--Joe was always the strident diplomat who could settle the
most irate customer down to a whisper with just a few practical words. I remember
one time he was in a particularly surly mood and was called to the front counter to
help out. So what does Joe do? He twists his glasses up real good and crooked on his
face, lets one eyelid fall halfway down and then opens his mouth until drool starts
trailing off of his bottom lip, then hunches over a little bit and walks right out
 to greet the customer, rubbing the back of his neck and sounding like Mushmouth
from Fat Albert. He carried on the entire conversation like that. It was beautiful.

-- Lance Walker, New York City