Sad News
It is our sad duty to inform you that at 7.25GMT on the morning of 28th December 2007, Joe Holmberg, founder member of Republic of Heaven, lost his battle with the cancer he had been fighting bravely for several months. Our sense of loss is overwhelming, and to put our feelings into words seems almost impossible. Joe was family to us, and to believe someone so special has gone just seems so hard to bear.
As some of you may know, after a distinguished career bouncing around like a loon on stage for Republic of Heaven, Joe left the shores of England just over a year ago to make a new life for himself in Paris with his partner Emilie. He threw himself into this new adventure with the same energy he had for everything in life – learning a new language and finding work in a strange city - always keeping us up to date with every exploit in his own inimitable, vital and fiercely intelligent style.
Joe had been suffering from ill health for a few months before being diagnosed with malignant cancer in September 2007, though to read his emails and blog posts, you’d think he’d just been told he had chicken pox. His ability to laugh and to remain so mentally strong throughout such a traumatic ordeal was a truly extraordinary thing to witness - so much so that when we visited him recently, although we all recognised the severity of his condition, it never occurred to us that he might not be with us three weeks later.
Our hearts go out to Geoff and Sheila (Joe’s parents), Pat (Joe’s brother) and of course Emilie, who has been part of our extended family for so long. We can’t possibly send you enough love and support, and our thoughts are with you all, and with that wonderful man you called your son, your brother and your partner. To find so much passion and intelligence, wit and sincerity in one human being is incredibly rare - you can be sure that as Joe’s friends, we will work, play, laugh and love as hard as we can, as that is the best tribute anyone can pay to such an amazing talent.
Goodbye Mr H. you big ginger bass monkey. We love you dearly. Wherever you are now, please make sure you jump around a lot, break stuff and hug people. Keep thinking, arguing and laughing. Keep your ear out for weird noises and bands with stupid names. Keep finding ways to better yourself. Keep collecting strange anecdotes and making them stranger still with your wicked sense of fun. Keep learning more than seems possible. Keep smiling in our memories and keep us from stumbling in the wrong direction. We know you’ll always be doing these things because this is how we remember you. Carry on doing the things you were good at fella – and by that we mean… well… everything.
Without wishing to stray into the realms of trite hyperbole – bless you Joe, we are truly so much richer for having had you in our lives. If you see any beardy deities, please pull their jack-leads out and kick their amplifiers over for us would you? Politely obviously… we would expect nothing less.
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Mark, Giles, Toby & Rich.
As some of you may know, after a distinguished career bouncing around like a loon on stage for Republic of Heaven, Joe left the shores of England just over a year ago to make a new life for himself in Paris with his partner Emilie. He threw himself into this new adventure with the same energy he had for everything in life – learning a new language and finding work in a strange city - always keeping us up to date with every exploit in his own inimitable, vital and fiercely intelligent style.
Joe had been suffering from ill health for a few months before being diagnosed with malignant cancer in September 2007, though to read his emails and blog posts, you’d think he’d just been told he had chicken pox. His ability to laugh and to remain so mentally strong throughout such a traumatic ordeal was a truly extraordinary thing to witness - so much so that when we visited him recently, although we all recognised the severity of his condition, it never occurred to us that he might not be with us three weeks later.
Our hearts go out to Geoff and Sheila (Joe’s parents), Pat (Joe’s brother) and of course Emilie, who has been part of our extended family for so long. We can’t possibly send you enough love and support, and our thoughts are with you all, and with that wonderful man you called your son, your brother and your partner. To find so much passion and intelligence, wit and sincerity in one human being is incredibly rare - you can be sure that as Joe’s friends, we will work, play, laugh and love as hard as we can, as that is the best tribute anyone can pay to such an amazing talent.
Goodbye Mr H. you big ginger bass monkey. We love you dearly. Wherever you are now, please make sure you jump around a lot, break stuff and hug people. Keep thinking, arguing and laughing. Keep your ear out for weird noises and bands with stupid names. Keep finding ways to better yourself. Keep collecting strange anecdotes and making them stranger still with your wicked sense of fun. Keep learning more than seems possible. Keep smiling in our memories and keep us from stumbling in the wrong direction. We know you’ll always be doing these things because this is how we remember you. Carry on doing the things you were good at fella – and by that we mean… well… everything.
Without wishing to stray into the realms of trite hyperbole – bless you Joe, we are truly so much richer for having had you in our lives. If you see any beardy deities, please pull their jack-leads out and kick their amplifiers over for us would you? Politely obviously… we would expect nothing less.
--
Mark, Giles, Toby & Rich.
posted by Captain Beefheart at 8:34 pm
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