This is intended to be a place where anyone who wants can bring a memory, photo, scan of a scrap of cartooning, video or sound file, or anything else that is about or by Johanna Lee, who went by Joe (“not just your average Joe”!) & if you feel more at ease under a pseudonym, that’s all right, as long as what is said comes from the heart without malice – speak freely. If you have something that is too long for you to type in, or needs scanning and you haven’t got a scanner, just mail a copy (unless you are moved to send an original) to:
Boxholder, P.O. Box 1151, Redwood City, CA 94064
& I’ll do my best to get it up in here. This is intended to complement any & all other tribute pages people raise up online, and there are a couple of them already.
Joe’s video artist friend Frankie has a couple of pages with photos from not too far back at:
http://rocknfranny.weebly.com/photos-of-joe.html
and
http://rocknfranny.weebly.com/joes-memorial-tribute-page.html
& Joe’s very longtime friend V Kingsley has a page with some amazing photos at
http://alotoflife.com/Giving.html
If you are able, you can also contribute to expenses of Joe’s passing via the PayPal link on that page. Joe preferred burial to cremation, but as some of us have been surprised to learn, there is no longer an option for folks without lots of $ saved up to be buried…even the cremation + memorial are costly. More on this at the link above.
V also wrote a moving and detailed personal post about Joe’s last mortal moments:
http://alotoflife.com/Vs_Version_Blog/Entries/2009/10/2_A_Warrior_Died_Yesterday.html
and check back for further V writings at:
http://alotoflife.com/Vs_Version_Blog/Vs_Version_Blog.html
It isn’t in me to say much myself yet but it will come. Just got through grounding after falling apart. I will leave it at this, that though I knew her departure could very likely be imminent it’s still a shock. A system shock. It’ll never be enough but I am very glad that we spent time together a few days ago, and talked for nearly half an hour the day before…Joe left the building. She was always larger than life, just like Elvis, right from the moment we met, despite the earthly travails (& there were many). Joe has left the building.
Remembering Joe - memories of Johanna Lee 
Everyone is invited to use ‘comments’ on this blog page to add stories, anecdotes, or what have you – anything relating to Joe that is not brought with malice will be welcome, whether raw or refined.
If you have any trouble using comments to put something in, feel free to email it to
johannaleefanclub@gmail.com
namaste’ y’all
By: A on October 2, 2009
at 11:39 pm
one thing that certainly can be agreed on is that Jo touched everyone she came in contact with.
She had an accidental disheveled way of leaving her mark on your emotions.
In hindsight for some and constant for others what stood out most was her charming wit and brilliant memory.
Her never ending creative sarcastic approach to a life most of us could not have managed. in my opinion she was the strongest of us all.
Her matter of fact approach to the most difficult of situations perhaps lead us to believe she would always work a way out.
Her seemingly limitless supply of energy and antics tho then were frustrating and unnerving now are endearing and nostalgic.
Above all it was that Jo was a teacher. she taught us so many things, patience, kindness, love, forgiveness, understanding. She took all those she touched to a core emotion in some way or another and quite simply we are better because of it. We have all grown and matured, we have all come together and we have all come apart. We are all old enough now to know the difference, Maybe it could be the last thing Jo is teaching us to come back together and celebrate our differences, our specialness and just let love shine thru it all.
See you later Jo.. you were a good good friend to me. I will never ever ever forget you, thanks for the laughter, the memories, the inspiration and most of all the love. ..anou
By: anou on October 4, 2009
at 5:35 am
Thanks for putting together this page. Thanks also to V, Artemesia, Frankie and everyone else who was such a comfort to Johanna.
I knew her since she was 17 years old. There were many years that I couldn’t find her. I would call around and some of her friends would tell me not to bother. That I was breaking my heart doing that. I never considered it something I shouldn’t do. She tried as hard as she could. What can you do when you don’t have the Mental Health Resources and the family support that you need to heal? Her friends were really her family. That and her lovely sisters. I wish her well. May she be happy in Paradise. Baruch HaShem Olav Ha Shalom Omeyn.
Trudeleh
By: Trudi Goodman on October 4, 2009
at 1:26 pm
You’re welcome (re the page) – it’s just there are so many things to remember & stories to tell that it seemed to me there should be a space for that without delay.
A small amount of effort.
Thanks for looking for Joe, Trudi…there are some words from a story in a book that occur to me, that what you strive for may not be accomplished but it is still deeply important that you take the steps to try to do it.
You were one of the few people from the “old country” of the East Coast who was still around for Joe, and that meant a lot to her.
Yeah, it was a system failure too (in the governmental/bureaucratic sense). It is deeply apparent to many – even SF mayor Gavin Newsom – that there needs to be real investment in supportive housing, which I think could have extended Joe’s life + wellness during life…A
By: johannalee on October 4, 2009
at 3:08 pm
I have been busy lately. When I have a bit more free time I will write a poem about Calamity Joe the brilliant. I work with disabled people, my professional stuff helped me to realize one thing about her, toward the last year or so, she needed ‘personal care’. This was something I could not provide.
My sister working for the State Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs explained that people like Joe with ‘co-occurring disorders’ (CODs) need 2 kinds of care at least. We all know she needed more than that. Many systems do not want to deal with her. Joe was also quite brilliant, and loved by many. I am glad to know she is in much less pain.
By: Ardys on October 6, 2009
at 8:19 am
Though we’re sorry to hear of her passing, and even more aggrieved to learn she suffered, there was no doubt that at least for awhile, this woman plunged headlong into life. We suspected her intelligence and sensitivity are what drove her to madness. And of what gifted, intelligent lesbian living in this era, could this not be said?
Looking at this mini-magazine Jo put out, all these years ago now, still makes me laugh and especially miss such hysterical, sarcastic vulgarity. Delightful. Enough to send anyone away from the edge straight into the abyss. Now
that’s talent. Nobody was safe, and the more ‘acceptably prominent’ one was in ‘the community’, the bigger a target you became.
Standing in A Different Light looking at her mini-mag is, I believe, where we met. The old memory is blurred. That bookstore was a surreal portal. Once standing in line, my mind was flooded with pictures that made me think of
Dorothy Allison novels. I saw long, red hair on the woman before me and tapped her on the shoulder. It was her.
So why would it be unbelievable to meet the creator of a ‘zine right there at the stand? She was with her friend Julien, and it was unclear whether these were friends or lovers, but no matter to us. These were wildly irreverent, fun gals, and we immediately decided to spend some time together.
One of the first things we did was take our motorcycles to Ocean Beach. As I recall, Jo rode like a maniac. While I admired her spirit, I wasn’t going to reduce us to roadkill. She laughed it off, but paced herself a little more
appropriately. After all, we wanted to ride together, right?
Another time, Jo & Julien showed up at our apartment in the Mission when my partner was working at, as Jo called it, “Community Theft”, the local thrift store. They were tripping their brains out. I decided to entertain
them by reading my favorite passages of Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter Thompson aloud. It did the trick, they lost it completely and stayed that way all afternoon.
Later, she would share her letters of correspondence from Aileen Wournos and we’d discuss the terrible events and experiences of her life. I saved my copies for years, till I couldn’t bear them anymore. None of this goes away,
but you’ve got to move on, lest you become consumed. How much nightmarish personal history consumed Johanna?
I recall her announcing in horror, an upcoming photo exhibition at a local venue. It was “No Humans Involved”, an expose on homeless, indigent people with no families and how the authorities swept their lives, and deaths under the rug. People who would simply disappear with no means of anyone ever discovering their fates. This left her in a very, very dark place.
Jo & I talked about doing a compilation ‘zine together, but I was in the midst of not only putting my own together, but also working with my band and knocking out paintings for shows. Time didn’t allow this to materialize. We’d hook up and walk over to the Castro and drink.
My band practiced in Capp Street Studio off Hunter & Stevenson Alleys. Her apartment was just off 16th street. One afternoon Robin and I parked the bike and decided to drop in on her. I got a strong feeling she was home, though no one came to the door. Finally Jo answers, again high on acid, bareass naked (it was the middle of the afternoon), and had just finished shaving her head. Did we like it?
We had a hell of a lot of laughs, things too completely absurd and personal to repeat here. Her means of speaking always left me with the feeling she drew from some ancient place for long distant sources of comfort, hence her sporadic, archaic speech patterns.
She graciously made us cups of hot tea and invited us to relax in her kitchen and sitting area. Her coffee table held a copy of The Anarchist’s Cookbook, and an unassuming little volume titled “Six Ways to Kill a Man with your
Bare Hands”. She gave us a proud hostesses’ tour of her lovely apartment. Unfortunately, on our second visit, we had to hide from the windows because she was sure the property owner was trying to reach her. The picture window
was smashed, a lot of drywall was kicked in, and there were bloodsport paintings all over the walls. It seems things got terse between her and the landlord.
We stopped hearing from Johanna, and I went over to Ren’s, who let me know that though she absolutely adored Jo, she was, in no uncertain terms, genuinely CRAZY. Well, hell, I had crazy friends before. That’s still no excuse
not to catch our last gig!
I started her first tattoo, a detailed rattlesnake on her forearm in black. If she hadn’t become tired I’d have finished it too, but it’s never good to push someone.
The last time we saw her, she was carrying Jagermeister with her and suffering a bizarre glandular problem. She played it cool, but you could tell she was terrified.
It’s more than unsettling to be learning of her demise nearly ten years after the fact. Every time I spoke with anyone in SF, I’d ask, but no one ever knew what became of her. We couldn’t recall her last name because she never signed anything, and Lee is so beguilingly easy, we just couldn’t remember it. Every year I searched online to see if she surfaced somewhere, but found nothing. Finally last night, January 7, 2019 I traced her.
There have been so many surrealistically horrible catastrophes since she passed, I can’t lament her missing them.
As most people are oblivious to monsterous geoengineering and the unabated nightmare that is Fukushima, I know these would’ve likely finished her.
No, we didn’t know her very long, but she left us with a powerful, enduring impression that hasn’t faded in 28 years.
I don’t know what happened to Johanna that shaped her navigation in this life, but that acerbic wit and visceral perception weren’t the stuff longevity is made of. It is invariably the funniest comedians who are in the most extreme pain.
However Johanna’s energy continues, we wish her all the love and peace she was so cruelly denied in her time on this earth.
No one can say she didn’t play her hand with a glorious flourish.
By: jac128 on January 8, 2019
at 3:22 am
Have fotos to post, if possible.
By: jac128 on January 8, 2019
at 3:45 am