Joe Weisman

Joe Weisman died at home in Corvallis, Oregon, on the morning of July 10th at the age of 81, after living more than a decade with the effects of a debilitating stroke, and, more recently, cancer. He leaves behind a legacy of curiosity, generosity, justice, and living life to the fullest.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1944, Joe grew up in Ann Arbor Michigan, graduated early from Ann Arbor High and then attended Reed College in Oregon, receiving a BA in chemistry in 1965. He then received a Masters from UC Berkeley, California, based on computer science work he did there, despite not having been officially enrolled in a program.

Joe participated in and instigated several experiments with communal living, group projects and collective adventure. In almost any project in his life, his work was collaborative, and firmly emmeshed in community, creation, and curiosity. Around 1969 he and a group of friends bought and refurbished a 90’ Baltic schooner, Sophia, to create a floating commune. They sailed it around the Mediterranean and then followed the Trade Winds to the Caribbean. There, he and his then wife Judy left the ship to join a friend in Guatemala where Joe worked for the Pan American Health Organization as a computer programmer. After returning to the US a small group of the ex-sailors decided to build a house, sell it, and use the money to buy land for a commune. By 1974 this vision was realized and, after another six months with PAHO in Guatemala, Joe moved onto Froggy Acres Church commune in California North Bay with his then wife, year-old son, and friends. His second child, Clio, was born a few years later. During this time, he joined Computers for Marketing Corporation (CfMC), where he worked for 40 years.

Around 1980, the commune dissolved and Joe eventually moved to San Francisco. He married Karen in XXXX, had his third child, Jazz, and moved to Corvallis for Karen’s new career as a doctor. His fourth child, Eben, was born in Corvallis in 1996. He commuted for work between Corvallis and San Francisco up until his stroke, at which point he retired. In his retirement he read extensively and became a cherished volunteer at his local food pantry.

Continuing the legacy of his own father’s love of building, Joe consistently upgraded his surroundings with carpentry and construction. He built a sauna wherever he lived. Across the many places he lived and worked, he left behind fish ponds, offices, shelving units, and improved kitchens. The house he and friends built to raise money to start a commune was (in its reincarnation) featured on the front page of the San Francisco Chronicle’s Real Estate page. He would sharpen the knives at rental houses. He built a harpsichord which bore the motto “work for beauty as for bread.” He was core infrastructure and labor for many Burning Man camps and projects.

A sense of justice and a near total disregard for authority were hallmarks of his character. He threw himself into the politics and activism of the 60s, including, for a time, being the ‘sound guy’ and bus driver for the Black Panthers. Joe ignored laws, did what he wanted, and shrugged off the consequences. He advocated for the end of the Vietnam war, and then, despite an impending summons from the draft board after his student deferment ended, left the country to embark on the Baltic schooner adventure. He took everything as a personal responsibility and could feel guilt with ease.

Art, food, pleasure, and experience all had great value to Joe. He would blister his mouth on extreme hot sauces and leap out of planes. A hobbyist pilot, he even learned to fly helicopters. He loved and collected art, and a sensuous sculpture could move him to tears. He maintained the only art purchases he regretted were the ones he had not made. An epicurean, he worked to visit every Michelin Star restaurant in the bay area and left behind many binders of annotated and customized recipes. He was an appreciative flirt, and loved beautiful, capable women.

He was an elegant and forceful writer, when he wanted to be. His boilerplate letter to charities, which informed them that he would continue to give them money as long as they did not contact him, was concise, clear, and sly. His humor often lived in the substrate—always present, rarely explicit. His block-print handwriting was uniquely his. No signature could be more minimal.

Joe was a visionary programmer, his career starting with some of the earliest computers. His master’s degree was for writing software to solve geometric puzzles, which he wrote to get a definitive answer on a pentomino puzzle that plagued him and his friends in college. He invented a system for cryptographically secure satellite phone communication (an idea well before its time, unfortunately) and launched a startup with some colleagues to attempt to sell it. At CfMC, he worked on problems he enjoyed, surrounded by colleagues he loved. In that role he built out software used by survey research firms, including Gallup. His enthusiasm for problems and problem solving was infectious.

He was legendarily bad with money, probably because he too easily gave it away. As Joe put it, “this $5 is going to improve his life a lot more than mine.” A dedicant to giving to “the Church of the Streets,” he was often recognized and greeted by panhandlers as he walked home. He left origami dollar bills at restaurants, tipped heavily, sometimes paid strangers’ tolls, and once gave a rental home to the person who lived there. He put all his kids through college. He would spend whatever he needed to do what he wanted. He juggled the resulting debt of all of this across many credit cards. He only profited on a real estate deal once, but every building he owned was interesting and fun.

As a father, he helped his kids navigate (or avoid) school, get the experiences they wanted, and learn interesting things. He supported their hobbies, and did many projects with them, often involving poor decisions, explosions, or extreme heat. He cooked for both the everyday and special occasions. He built many things for his wife, most notably her luxurious bathroom.

A caregiver and advocate, Joe would go out of his way to improve the lives of others. He would take crying babies on walks so that others could eat. He tried to never miss a wedding or a funeral. A mail-order license minister, he officiated many weddings himself, including for his brother and for his son. His loyalty was the type to help you move a body, if you needed. He would get on a plane for someone within hours, if they required help.

He hated designated holidays, but would generously give gifts that inspired him. He rejected his birthday, refused to consider the question of God as a question at all, and was stubborn as a mule.

He is survived by his wife, Karen, his children Luke (Mary), Clio, Jazz (Tom), and Eben, his sister Londa, his brother David (Jacki), his grandchildren Ayzr and Sylvester, along with countless friends whose lives are richer due to who he was in the world.