R.I.P. Joe Herzenberg (1941-2007)

Joe was one of our neighbors and could often be spotted walking down North Street. He lived around the corner from us at 6 Cobb Terrace, on a cool little street just a stone's throw away from downtown but set back from the world in a hidden corner of Chapel Hill. On Monday nights when Town Council meetings were held, he passed by like clockwork to walk the short distance to Town Hall and back home.


Joe on North Street in front of the Pink House, Spring 1992.

He was also one of my political mentors. During the fall of '91, the first semester I lived in the Pink House, I saw Joe a lot during the course of Mark Chilton's campaign for Town Council, and his own successful Council re-election.

Throughout the early nineties, Joe would occasionally stop by to shoot the breeze if we were hanging out on a porch. He sent us some of his famous postcards when he was out of town on his travels. He even came to a couple of early Pink House parties, before the days when they blew up beyond control.

In late October of 2007, Joe died of complications from diabetes in Chapel Hill. He was 66 and greatly missed by his family and friends.

For more about Joe's life and times, visit JoeHerzenberg.org.