SpechtBop:

Only 1 (one) can be the best is an Olympic tradition.  No one better typified that than Joe Specht.

He was my teacher at Lycoming College in 1975.  My lecture-hall English Lit class met twice a week and once a week in a smaller group lead by Joe, the intern.  I was a freshman and he was a senior.  He was serious and funny at the same time. He had curly hair and a mustache any walrus would be proud of.  He wore the best shirts and always had a quip about a recent movie or current music he enjoyed.  People gravitated toward him because he was easy to like.  Even on a Friday, no one missed his class.

We had an odd friendship I started through a few common friends.  In 2000, I visited Joe and Ani in Vermont and admired their “million dollar bathroom”- you know, the one with the view of heaven and the woods that surround it.   Upon departure, I was jealous.

To my way of thinking, Joe Specht did what he set out to do and that’s an admirable trait.

In compliance with Olympic tradition, Joe Specht deserves a gold medal because only one can be the best.

R.I.P. Joe Specht