Joe ‘Big Deal’ Archibald was ‘a man like no other’

I enjoyed Jodi Makela’s poem about Joe Archibald in last week’s Boulder Monitor. As a former editor of the newspaper and at risk of being accused of bias—never a good time for a journalist—I will admit to favoring the line, “The Boulder Monitor always broughten.”

Joe visited The Monitor by 9 a.m. most every Wednesday to buy three copies to deliver to friends. He was so reliable that Office Manager Candace Hecker and I would ask around with concern on the rare day that he didn’t stop by. Thankfully, we’d soon catch sight of him, whether sitting next door at The River or, “whether on a bicycle or tricycle,” as Jodi wrote, being the “Big Deal” about town I’d quickly learned he was.

After months of seeing Joe, well, everywhere, I envisioned The Boulder Monitor telling his story in a fitting “Big Deal” way: a documentary of many photos and interviews with Joe and those whose lives he touched. I looked forward to learning more about Joe, and to following him around to capture him, as Jodi wrote, “always keeping it real.”