Times Leader Executive Editor Joe Soprano participates in a previous year’s Pittston St. Patrick’s Day festivities. Soprano died Sunday, July 6, at the age of 58.
Tony Callaio file photo
Each and every week, I get to tell the story of people in Greater Pittston; it could be a business article or could be a human-interest story and everything in between.
There’s always pressure when you are trying to interpret someone’s life, and you always want to get it right.
I’ve had the privilege of telling many stories, and I’ve always found gratification in bringing someone to light.
This week, I’d like to mention the passing of the executive editor at the Times Leader, Joe Soprano.
Joe fought bravely over the past year with his battle of cancer, and sadly, he lost that battle on July 6, at the age of 58. At that age, he was a long way off from stepping away from the paper.
My personal connection with Joe took place years ago, but over the last five years it intensified when I started to work with him directly at the paper.
Most of our connections were over emails and phone calls with them strictly business. Every so often, we would send each other messages unrelated to work.
From time to time, there would be an official Times Leader event going on, and I would get to see Joe in person. Each and every time that happened, I got to know him better. What I really liked about Joe was his sense of humor, which I found dry, but I got it, and I got him.
Since he was a runner, I’d get to see him participate in a 5K race I would have to cover here and there and naturally, I’d shoot several photos of him while running in the event.
As a matter of fact, on Wednesday, July 9, the Times Leader ran a front cover story on Joe’s passing and they used one of my photos of him finishing a race. It really put a smile on my face to know I got to honor him with my photo work.
Through his obituary, I found out he was born in Bayshore, Long Island, New York, which is a place we have in common. When I was a child, my family would spend some time on the island visiting relatives at Bayshore and Brentwood.
Joe loved his Nittany Lions of Penn State, where he graduated from in the 1980s. He served as a student manager for the football team, including when the team were National Champions in 1986.
I didn’t know that fact until I had noticed he was attending all home games, and not only did he attend the games, but he was fortunate enough to be on the sideline for all those games.
Initially, I thought he was a season ticket holder, but when I asked him how he got to be on the field, I thought he was going to tell me because he was a member of the press, but instead, it was because of his involvement as a student manager. That was a wonderful perk for Joe.
When I was with him, he loved a good time. No, he wasn’t one of those loud guys at a party singing and yelling, but that’s when his humor really surfaced when he was able to let his hair down.
Speaking of hair, Joe had a beard, but he shaved it off every so often. For some reason, I like it better when he is clean-shaven.
Something else I did not know: He was a Mets fan, so much so that his funeral remembrance card was a baseball card with him on it donning a Mets jersey, the same jersey he wore during his funeral home visitation.
He loved working in the newspaper industry, and his boss and publisher of the Times Leader, Kerry Miscavage, told me she would often tell him to go home at night after a long day. I believe he worked six days a week.
He was always fair to me and treated me with the utmost respect. He trusted me in giving me important assignments to either photograph or write or both.
Because of my association with Joe and all those at the Times Leader, I’ve been able to cover everyone from U.S. presidents, to governors, senators, congressmen, and candidates running for office to sports figures and all kinds of personalities.
Joe was an invaluable source of knowledge and guidance. He was easy to work with and for and when I heard of Joe’s plight with cancer over a year ago, it got me very upset. Of course, being a cancer victim myself and still here nearly 19 years later, I believed Joe was going to beat his cancer, too.
It’s sad knowing he had mistaken esophageal cancer for acid reflux and waited a long time before getting to a doctor, but he’s no different than any of us not wanting to run to a doctor.
Knowing his dedication to the paper, he always put himself last.
He was a great guy, and I won’t soon forget him. I have photos to remind me of him and happy memories to recall.
One of the best photos I have of Joe is when he ran in the Pittston St. Patrick’s 5K run with some of his favorite running buddies.
After the race, most runners do a cooldown lap or just walk around for a bit, but not Joe, he and his friends took off for Rikasa Restaurant on Main St. for a beer. It was there I shot the photo of him hanging over the railing with beer in hand saluting with a huge smile.
Wife, Justine, and dog, Macy May, will miss Joe and so will we … GO PSU — Let’s Go Mets!
