Celebrating his 50th year writing full time for Baton Rouge newspapers, which began with the State-Times and now The Advocate.

Joe’s first byline appeared in The Morning Advocate in 1970 while at LSU and worked several LSU baseball games that year and 1971.

Began writing a fishing column for State-Times in March 1976 which led him to become a full-time outdoors writer in December 1991, after covering LSU baseball for more than 20 years including LSU's first national championship.

Joe also covered Tulane, Southern and other state college football programs, LSU basketball for nine seasons, along with a host of high school sports.

Joe won national writing awards for Eddie Robinson (Baton Rouge born and raised)  &Grambling when Robinson passed Bear Bryant as college football's all-time winningest coach.

He also won an another award for extensive coverage of the fisheries disaster in the Atchafalaya and Verret basins after Hurricane Andrew.

Joe was inducted into Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame in 2014, received CCA Louisiana's first Champion of Coastal Conservation Award in 2016, and was inducted into the Louisiana Chapter of The Legends of the Outdoors National Hall of Fame in 2021.