After a brief battle with brain cancer diagnosed just over two months ago, Joe is no longer with us. Joe was an outspoken lawyer and industry advocate, a vigilant champion of free speech and privacy and is well known for his role as founder of Sellsius.com and TheClozing.com. He got on a bus and toured the country a while back to meet as many real estate bloggers as possible, he has awarded women in real estate with recognition every year and always fought for the underdog.
We all owe a great deal to Joe for his role in the real estate blogging world, and Benn and I personally have enjoyed many years of friendship with Joe as did many. Details of the funeral will be posted here when we know anything and we will pass along any of your kind words to his wife.
Joe, thank you for all you’ve done for everyone around you, you will be so very sorely missed.
talk @ agentgenius .com
My personal note:
After writing this and sitting quietly for some time, I wanted to share with you why this is such a devastating loss and why we’re so frustrated, and the tears are so abundant in our home tonight. I feel like the last line of defense is gone, like the last line of sanity is erased, and honestly, Joe is who we always called if we had a dilemma- when we were attacked, when we were considering a lawsuit, when we needed a balanced voice, or when we were tempted to put a note into his “Deep Throat” mailbox that he asked us to so many times over the years.A few years back, Joe and I met in person for the first time at a small private party in San Francisco. We found it amusing that we were the two people hovering consistently at the tiny bar without leaving, and we joked that we wanted to get the last drink served at the party (Joe won). That night, I asked him how he does it, how we stays so vigilant. His answer as his eyes lit up, he flashed that patent smile and shrugged his sport-coat-draped shoulders was, “who else is gonna do it?” Amazing. We love Joe because he is open to everyone and is always on the side of justice over popularity.
Joe felt like an old friend the minute we shook hands and almost everyone I know feels the same way. The Defender is gone and I honestly don’t know who to call now in hundreds of situations. Joe has helped us so much along the way and this truly is a loss to us all, even those of you who don’t know who he is- he cared for us all and watched out for us, and I believe he’s still doing the same, just from a different vantage point.
