News: Joe aka Back Alley

[kshapero]

Damn, I'm hearing about this condition way to often. Crummy news. Travel on Joe.

 

[Archiver]

Has anyone heard from Joe lately? I hope he's okay.

 

[news shooter]

Joe, our prayers are with you!
May God grant you healing and peace.

 

[Darthfeeble]

You were one of the very first to engage me when I joined this group, I wish you the very best.

 

[KodakRetina]

Dementia is a difficult condition, for all involved. I hope the Canadian health care system takes good care of you, Joe.

 

[Godfrey]

All my thoughts and hopes for Joe. Wherever you are, know that people care for you!

G

 

[rfaspen]

This is not good news. My best to you Joe! I now have at least 5 bags now due to Joe's shared quest here at RFF.

 

[jja]

I have been on RFF (on and off) for a very long time. Joe, you were a great moderator here. I remember your constant search for the perfect camera bag. I hope you found it! Wishing you all the best.

 

[Joerg]

This is not good news. My best to you Joe! I now have at least 5 bags now due to Joe's shared quest here at RFF.

But do you have one owned by Joe 😬

 

[ddutchison2]

Hi Joe. I remember your Ten thousandth post - way back when. Always enjoy your presence here and it's great to see you post again. From what you say, Joseph Sudek comes to mind. During the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia, street and landscape photography became an impossibility so he stayed home and made still-lifes in his home and garden instead. The world may shrink, but not the imagination. Wishing you the best

 

[robert blu]

Joe, all the RFF friends think of you!

 

[JohnGellings]

Once in a great awhile he still likes some photos of mine on Facebook. Hopefully he is just taking it easy these days.

 

[Shac]

Best wishes Joe - I still use the small Domke bag you sold me. May 2026 be good to you

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Once Joe organized fund raising for a RFF member who needed help.

Perhaps Joe would be OK with receiving help from RFF members.

That was for me, about 17 years ago. I was raising my son by myself, with no involvement from his mother, while trying to finish my masters degree. That year, I was really struggling; I wasn't making enough money and wasn't going to be able to buy my son anything for Christmas that year. Right before Christmas (I think it was on Christmas Eve), Joe surprised me with a gift of money he'd collected from RFF members to help us.

The day after Christmas, I took my son to buy a laptop computer. He'd wanted a computer for a long time, and with the money Joe collected for us, I was able to buy him a really nice Toshiba laptop, and still had money over for us to live on for a few weeks. That really saved us, and I always wished I could have met Joe to thank him personally.

Soon after he got his new computer, my son, who was 11 years old, taught himself to use Google Sketchup 3D modeling software to draw spacecraft, which is something he has always been fascinated by. He later started learning programming languages, too. He eventually went to Purdue University and earned a Computer Science degree. Today, he is 28 and earns a 6 figure income as a software engineer. He also does commercial illustration work for aerospace companies; he does the 'artist renderings' that companies give the media when they're developing a new rocket, spaceship, satellite, etc.

That laptop that I bought for my son, thanks to Joe and the generosity of my friends here on RFF set my son on the path to a good life.




Mack and his new laptop the day after Christmas, 2008




The man speaking is Jim Bridenstine, who was the administrator of NASA at the time. He's giving a talk at the University of Michigan. The illustration of a mars habitat behind him was made by my son.

 

[Michael Markey]

Joe was active on my FB account a few days ago .

 

[Godfrey]

That was for me, about 17 years ago. I was raising my son by myself, with no involvement from his mother, while trying to finish my masters degree. That year, I was really struggling; I wasn't making enough money and wasn't going to be able to buy my son anything for Christmas that year. Right before Christmas (I think it was on Christmas Eve), Joe surprised me with a gift of money he'd collected from RFF members to help us.
...

The only true wealth we can have is the love and caring we give to our friends and community:
Love is the only resource unlimited in the human world: the more of it you give away, the more of it there is.

You brought me to tears, Chris. That was a happy remembrance. 🥲
G

 

[Bingley]

Hey Joe, if you're checking in on RFF happy new year and I wish you the best. I'm still shooting that Minolta Rokkor-M 40mm f2.0 I bought from you years ago... Indeed, it's a treasured lens and I think of you when I use it. You were a leading mod when I joined RFF roughly 20 years ago and a great contributor to the forum. Sending you good thoughts!!