Here is Mr. Joe at 100. He is the subject of our 2015 film “Mr. Joe lives alone.” This is how they used to make Americans: mix two immigrant parents with grit and determination. Add years of unpaid labor swapped for housing, a good deal of hunting for food and a cow with milk to sell. With both parents dead by the time this American turned 18, he made his own way working in factories during the day and single-handedly building his own house at night. When asked how he knew how to build the houses, he said “I just figured it out.” Do they even make them like this anymore? Someone with a clear vision and the tenacity to execute that vision and see it through to the end?
