First I met Joe's wife Kathy when she needed design and typesetting of a program she was in charge of for Hecht's OASIS program--an enrichment program for seniors that used to be run and funded by a local department store in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, DC. Later, in 1990, I got involved in hosting some folks from Georgia (the one in the Caucasus) who were appearing at the National Folk Festival when it was in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, and got to meet Joe, who was head of the National Council for Traditional Arts (NCTA) and therefore the driving force behind the festival in Johnstown. It took me longer before I realized that these two fascinating individuals were married to one another. I'm saddened by the thought that there will be no more further accomplishments by Joe to put me in even greater awe of him.

Condolences to Kathy.

--Charlie Baum