Joe Barone is retired after twenty-five years as an ordained minister in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). He is a graduate of Missouri University with a Masters of Divinity from the Phillips Graduate Seminary in Enid, Oklahoma. He is presently a member of the Columbia, Missouri, Unitarian-Universalist Fellowship. Joe was raised on the grounds of the Nevada, Missouri, State Hospital #3. His father was a medical doctor who was the longtime superintendent of the institution. Joe lives with his wife in Columbia, Missouri.