BUFFALO, NY {WKBW-TV} — Ten years ago when Joe George was turning fifty he got rid of his car and his TV, gave up his job as a professional chef and started to write about it in a blog he calls "Urban Simplicity". He says "Both my parents never made it to fifty and so that was always looming large over me. When I turned fifty I made a lot of changes in my life."
Joe took a job that he says provides him more "personal satisfaction". When he's not working, he's taking pictures and writing stories about the people in his Allentown neighborhood. He says "Social media is a very powerful platform. I made a conscious effort to only post good stuff."
Besides stories of the people and places he sees in Buffalo he also shares personal reflections and recipes. "I have always loved the act of cooking" Joe says.
He has published two books. The first "The View From My Handlebars" Joe says is "pretty pictures of the city" and the other "Empty City, Empty Streets" focuses on the view he had as he went to work everyday during the COVID shutdowns. "It looked like a science fiction movie." he says.
He went to the seminary in NY City and became an interfaith minister. "I think in this day and age we are connected but not connected at all. What I like about being on the street and meeting people is the humanity."
Joe says he just wants people to realize that everyone has value."I think people forget that everybody has a story, everybody has a worth and everybody has a story."
