I knew Joe as far back as grade school.  Joe was always better than me at everthing except singing ( he was terrible, but you did'nt dare tell him ) His cars were faster, his girlfriends were prettier and he was just downright "cooler".  I never appreciated Joe until we shared an apartment together at Tech.  We became best of friends and enjoyed water skiing, snow skiing, traveling and even a "gorumet club" with my wife Sherry, his then girlfriend Diane Londenberg and other TJ alumni.  Joe became very successful in business.  I was brokenhearted when I heard of his passing.  Yep, Joe was the "Fonz" of TJ but inside that seemingly threatening exterior he was as gentle a soul as Mr. Rogers. 

Joe Might Have Chosen A Different Path Than Some Of Us, But I Have A Good Memory Of Joe That May Not Be Known By Many. A Different Side Of Joe That Wasn't Seen By Hardly Anyone. At Cary, We Had Just Left School For The Day. I Was Run'n Up A Sidewalk When I Tripped Anf Fell. My Leg Was Badly Injured And Later Required Stiches. I Wasn't Sure It Wasn't Broken. Joe Was Near By And Ran Over To See If I Was OK. See'n That I Wasn't He Actually Swooped Me Up Into His Arms And Carried Me Back Into School To The Nurse. He Asked If I'd Be OK And I Said Yes. I've Never Forgotten Joe For That. He Had A Compasionate Heart.

WE ALWAY'S GOT ALONE !

Looking back on our high school years from the perspective that 40 years affords, one thing that amazes me is the degree to which we fractured ourselves into various little carefully-defined and tightly-controlled social groups.  There were "social climbers," "jocks," "hoodlums," etc. -- even a few social outcasts who no one liked or included among their circle of friends.  I certainly don't mean this as any sort of accusation, criticism, or indictment of the TJ Class of 1971; I did the very same thing myself.  However, in retrospect, I'm not sure that organizing/limiting ourselves in that way served us very well.  You all know that Joe Kinlaw was considered by most to be a "hoodlum."  Just speaking for myself, Joe was always so kind and polite to me; I -- just speaking personally -- never saw anything negative or violent or his personality.  (I think Joe liked me because he sensed that, like him, I was rebelling against something, even if neither of us really knew excatly what it was that we were rebelling against.)  Looking back, I wonder now why many people (perhaps including me) had such a negative perception of Joe; he was actually a very good guy.  Let us not forget him, okay?  Philip