Prince Joe Henry, R.I.P.
I can't imagine a story that has less to do with Seattle, but on this day, I don't care. Prince Joe Henry, one of the great entertainers in Negro League history, passed away yesterday after a years-long battle with arthritis and diabetes. My first interaction with Prince Joe was a two-hour conversation about his lack of baseball pension in which I almost hung up the phone twelve times on account of his incessant rambling. Over time, I would come to love that rambling. Now that he's gone, I can think of nothing but rambling, wishing that the rambling was still here, blabbering in my ear.
Prince Joe lived in Brooklyn, one of the most ramshackle communities in Southern Illinois. The level of poverty there is indecipherable to Seattleites, but Prince Joe wouldn't have had it any other way. He knew Brooklyn history backwards and forwards, and should have been the town mayor. Ultimately, he wrote a column in the Riverfront Times, which led to a book. His thoughts and words were vital to the American experience, whether he shared them in print or while sprawled out on the couch in his trailer, as he often was.
Today, I regret that I hadn't called Joe in months. I didn't feel like I could spare the hour that a simple hello would inevitably have led to. In retrospect, what a selfish impulse that was. What a treasure of a man Joe was. I will miss him forever, lying there pontificating on his ripped red couch. I love you, Prince Joe. Your life was not for naught.
3 comment(s)
Maxi says:
Negro League entertainers never did and never will get the proper respect they deserve.
Short of that, thanks for acknowledging the passing of a true legend.
Posted On: Saturday, Jan. 3 2009 @ 3:48PM
Antonio Rodriguez says:
Thank you for your acknowledgement. I brought Joe in to speak at my school while I was an undergraduate in St. Louis. He brought the house down. Like you I grew to love his ramblings while we talked on the phone, and like you these last few months I couldn't spare a few moments to say hi. The one thing I can do is thank his grandson and people like you for telling his story.
Posted On: Saturday, Jan. 3 2009 @ 4:23PM
alexis (henry) monroe says:
hey im alexis (henry) monroe the great-neice of joe henry. You know its funny how people go threw life and never know they had a famous uncle but in my case i grew up knowing it and every chance i could, i went to see him. He was such a great person, he always believed in finding the good in someone but also LETTING everyone know when someone was doing wrong haha. but no matter what he was going threw he always told his *stories* with an smile and i just hope his lives on just the same :)
-peace and love to you.
Posted On: Friday, Feb. 5 2010 @ 8:49AM