Joel A. Hoff

Thank you, Mr. Hoff.
During the school year 1974-75, the young, enthusiastic, and very kind Mr. Hoff taught a wonderful high school class about French art history. Almost half a century later it remains an important part of my life, and as a parent I have passed on a lot of what we learned. This includes "La grande illusion," which became my daughter's favorite film.
Mr. Hoff introduced us to "Le voyage dans la lune," "Un chien andalou" and other French films up to the latest from...

I met Joel in Toronto in 1972 when a mutual friend (my summer camp counselor and his schoolmate) heard we were both there. Although I moved back to Virginia before he left Canada, we stayed in touch, albeit sporadically, for many years. At some point we noticed that our birthdays were 10 days apart, and began a tradition of phoning one another at that time. Those calls continued for more at least 15 years. Last summer, when he didn't call on my birthday, and didn't return my call on his, I...

Joel and I first met in Boston, in 1984, where we were both working with the Southeast Asian refugee community. In 1992 we were both working in Cambodia. We often hung out together. That relationship has lasted so long. When he moved back to Cambodia temporarily, he stayed at my house in Phnom Penh, with my mother-in-law. When I and two of my daughters visited Boston we stayed at Joel's house for a night.

He and I were true brothers of a similar calling in life. He will always be...

Joel and I were friends for forty years. As such we were present for milestones in each other's lives. My sincere condolences to Ben, Anne, and Amelia

For many years, Joel was my colleague in the Liberal Arts Department of Massachusetts College of Art and Design. Although I met him as a coworker, I knew him as a friend. Both of us were teachers of literature who shared a love a great writing as well as great music, especially opera. We used to lend each other recordings of famous opera singers--recordings we returned several years later!
I treasure our conversations about French literature (his specialty) and his experiences in Asia,...

Thank you all for your kind words

I had known Joel since the mid 1990s. Found him to be a very deeply intellectual person with wide spread knowledge in various world languages, cultures and histories.

He had a acute sense of humor as well and hence I am my fellow common friends enjoyed the conversations with him whenever he visited us.

Its very unfortunate that we lost such a talented person due to Parkinson disease. Which was considered to be a curable disease.

We all miss him immensely. May his soul...