Joseph Patrick McGarvey

George Stockman's remarks portray Joe the way I came to know him in the last several years. George and Ida introduced me to Joe. We both grew up in Philadelphia and shared early memories. That led to weekly discussions where I would show up at Joe's house with two sandwiches and a bottle of Scotch. Joe was very intelligent, a deep thinker and an avid reader. He led me through a series of books and movies that looked at the history of Ireland in unsentimental terms. He also had an abiding...

I knew Joe over the last seven years: we had many long discussions, partly trying to catch up on those other years. He was a unique character who liked dialogue, reading, grilled salmon and scotch. We had long conversations. Joe said he didn't argue; he discussed. Joe enjoyed and collected art and he also painted. He painted my portrait over 4 sittings. We talked about 45 minutes; then he painted about 45 minutes; and then we talked another 45 minutes. He would read a couple of books per week...