Joe Frank (August 19, 1938 – January 15, 2018) was a French-born American writer, teacher, and radio performer best known for his often philosophical, humorous, surrealist, and sometimes absurd monologues and radio dramas he recorded often in collaboration with friends, actors, and family members. Early life Frank was born Joseph Langermann in Strasbourg, France, near the border of Germany, to father Meier Langermann (then aged 51, a Polish-born shoe manufacturer) and mother Friederike "Fritzi" Langermann (née Passweg) (then aged 26). Frank was born months before the family fled from Nazi Germany's persecution of Jewish people in their native Poland. Legislation to allow the family and others into the country was passed by the US Congress twice, the first having been vetoed by President Roosevelt. Joe grew up in one of the twin towers of The El Dorado in Central Park West. After helping many of his mother's relatives escape Nazis, Meier also housed them in one of The El Dorado's apartments. In 1950, Joe and his family moved to Great Neck, Long Island where he attended high school. His father (identified as 'Meyer Langerman' in New York City's death records) died of kidney failure on October 8, 1943, when Joe was five years old. On April 28, 1945, his mother married Theodore Frank (whom Joe called Freddy in his show, and in the article 'Joe Frank is off the air' in the 'LA Weekly' in 1997) and changed Joe's last name. In his twenties, Frank studied at Hofstra University in New York and later at the Iowa Writers' Workshop. In 1964, he taught five grades of English at the Sands Point Academy for Gifted Children in Sands Point, NY. From 1965 to 1975, Joe taught English and Russian literature and philosophy at the Dalton School in Manhattan and later, while working as a music promoter (1976-1977), became interested in the power of radio. NPR, 1978-1984 In 1977, Frank started volunteering at Pacifica Network station WBAI in New York, performing experimental radio involving monologues, improvisational actors, and live music during late-night, free-form hours. In 1978, he moved to Washington, D.C., to serve as a co-anchor for the weekend edition of National Public Radio's All Things Considered, his first paying radio job, which lasted two weeks. At the end of each segment, he was given five minutes to create and narrate his creative fictional essays. In 1978–1984, Joe performed in, and produced