Joe Clark: Lean on Me inspiration, principal who turned around failing Paterson Eastside High School dead at 82 abc7chicago.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from abc7chicago.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Photo: AP (AP)
Joe Louis Clark, the no-nonsense disciplinary high school principal who inspired the classic 1989 film
Lean On Me, has died at the age of 89. According to an official press release, Clark succumbed after a long battle with an undisclosed illness on Tuesday at his Gainesville, Fla., home, surrounded by family.
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Clark was born in Rochelle, Ga., on May 8, 1938, and his family later moved to Newark, N.J., in 1938. Ever the proponent of education, Clark earned a bachelor’s degree (then William Paterson College, now William Paterson University), a master’s degree (Seton Hall University), and an honorary doctorate from the U.S. Sports Academy. After concluding his collegiate career, Clark served in the U.S. Army as a Reserve Sergeant and Drill Instructor.
Joe Clark, no-nonsense principal who inspired film Lean on Me, has died
December 30, 2020 / 6:58 AM / CBS/AP Joe Clark
Joe Louis Clark, the baseball bat and bullhorn-wielding principal whose unwavering commitment to his students and uncompromising disciplinary methods inspired the 1989 film Lean on Me, died at his Florida home on Tuesday after a long battle with an unspecified illness, his family said in statement. He was 82.
In this Feb. 11, 1988, file photo, Joe Clark, principal of Eastside High School in Paterson, N.J., stands with rap group Run-DMC before the group gave a concert at the school in support of Clark s way of running his school.
Principal Joe Clark, who inspired film Lean on Me, dies
FILE - In this Feb. 11, 1988, file photo, Joe Clark, principal of Eastside High School in Paterson, N.J., stands with rap group Run-DMC before the group gave a concert at the school in support of Clark s way of running his school. Clark, the baseball bat and bullhorn-wielding principal whose unwavering commitment to his students and uncompromising disciplinary methods inspired the 1989 film âLean on Me,â died at his Florida home on Tuesday, Dec. 29, 2020, after a long battle with an unspecified illness, his family said in statement. He was 82. (AP Photo/Peter Cannata, File)
Family: Joe Louis Clark, former Paterson principal who inspired Lean on Me, dies at age 82
News 12 Staff
Updated on:Dec 30, 2020, 12:30pm EST
Legendary educator Joe Louis Clark, the long-time principal at
Eastside High School in Paterson who inspired the film Lean on Me
and was known for his
controversial approach to discipline, died Tuesday at the age of 82, his
family says.
“Just try to pour into someone else and
make their lives a little bit better and your life will have a meaning,” says
Hazel Clark, his daughter. “That s what he always told
us, and I just want to say that other people, if you want to preserve