{"id":176392,"date":"2026-03-03T15:18:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T15:18:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/176392\/"},"modified":"2026-03-03T15:18:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T15:18:10","slug":"island-poet-laureate-remembered-for-work-support-of-arts-sanibel-captiva","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/176392\/","title":{"rendered":"Island poet laureate remembered for work, support of arts – SANIBEL-CAPTIVA"},"content":{"rendered":"


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\nJoseph \u201cJoe\u201d Pacheco<\/p>\n

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\nPoet Joe Pacheco performs with musician David Amram at the Cornelia Street Cafe in Greenwich Village in New York City.<\/p>\n

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\nJoe and Marjorie Pacheco<\/p>\n

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\nStudents at The Sanibel School work on their poetry with Joe Pacheco.<\/p>\n

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\nJoe Pacheco reads at NPR, where his poems were featured on \u201cMorning Edition\u201d and \u201cAll Things Considered.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\nThe Sanibel-Captiva Island Writers’ Writers Read group in spring 2015, including organizer and participant Joe Pacheco.<\/p>\n

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Joseph \u201cJoe\u201d Pacheco, 95, of Sanibel, passed away of natural causes on Feb. 2.<\/p>\n

Often regarded as Sanibel\u2019s unofficial poet laureate, he was one of the island\u2019s most famous poets and was also known as \u201cSanibel Joe.\u201d Pacheo was involved with multiple poetry events on the islands that brought the arts community together, had a weekly column in the Sanibel-Captiva Islander, and more.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe wrote a prize-winning poem when he was 10 years old and then he didn\u2019t write anymore,\u201d wife Marjorie Pacheco said, adding that he started writing again when they retired and moved to the island.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe always used the expression, his muse returned,\u201d she noted.<\/p>\n

Marjorie Pacheco shared that he became a performance poet because he wrote a lot of rap.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe loved writing, sharing and performing his poetry,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Pacheco was born on July 21, 1930, on the Lower East Side of New York City, New York.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was the first Nuyorican in the family,\u201d Marjorie Pacheco said, referring to Puerto Ricans born or raised in New York City \u2014 a blend of New York and Puerto Rican. \u201cHe was pretty proud of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

With a long career in education, Pacheco started out as a nursery school teacher before teaching English and Spanish in high school. He served as a junior high assistant principal and principal, later becoming the first Puerto Rican New Yorker to serve as New York City\u2019s district superintendent.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlmost four decades of working his way up the ladder,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Pacheco retired in 1988 and became an adjunct professor at Brooklyn College.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was waiting for me to retire so we could move down here,\u201d Marjorie Pacheco said.<\/p>\n

They first had a unit at the then South Seas Plantation on Captiva.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat made us fall in love with Southwest Florida and the barrier islands,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

They bought a house on Sanibel and relocated in 1996. Pacheco rediscovered his \u201cmuse\u201d and wrote more than 400 poems, many about his childhood growing up as a Nuyorican and life on Sanibel.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe welcomed every morning we woke up together,\u201d Marjorie Pacheco said. \u201cWe just loved each day, being together.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole thing was an adventure down here \u2014 coming from the concrete sidewalks of New York City,\u201d she added. \u201cOur first orange tree, our own fresh oranges. We loved growing our own fruit.\u201d<\/p>\n

For over two decades, the Islander published a poetry column of his works called Poetic License. Pacheco\u2019s poems were also featured on NPR\u2019s \u201cMorning Edition\u201d and \u201cAll Things Considered,\u201d as well as \u201cLatino USA,\u201d and they appeared in other newspapers, such as the News-Press and Island Sun.<\/p>\n

His published books of poetry include \u201cThe First of the Nuyoricans: Sailing to Sanibel,\u201d \u201cAlligator in the Sky\u201d and \u201cSanibel Joe\u2019s Songbook.\u201d Pacheco\u2019s poem \u201cNor More Heavy Poems\u201d was recently accepted by the literary journal Passage.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe wrote some poetry about us together,\u201d Marjorie Pacheco said. \u201cOne his first poems was \u2018Retire with me to Sanibel,\u2019 and then he wrote my reply.\u201d<\/p>\n

Among his many activities on Sanibel, Pacheco co-founded ArtPoems with fellow poet Lorraine Walker Williams. A collaboration between local artists and poets, the artists would select a poem to create a piece of art from, and the poets would selected a piece of artwork to create a poem from.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was very well received,\u201d she said, adding that it started small, but grew over the years.<\/p>\n

Pacheco also organized and hosted the annual Sanibel Poetry Fest.<\/p>\n

\u201cApril is Poetry Month, so he decided he would have a poetry fest with local poets performing,\u201d Marjorie Pacheco said, noting that it was typically held at the Sanibel Public Library.<\/p>\n

Pacheco helped to organize Writers Read, put on by the Sanibel-Captiva Island Writers.<\/p>\n

He was a past president for the Southwest Florida Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and a member of the WGCU Advisory Board. Pacheco was also on the board for the Southwest Florida Symphony.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe loved playing tennis and was a master of drop shots,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Pacheco was preceded in death by a daughter, Miranda. He is survived by his wife; his daughter and son-in-law, Allegra and Abed; and his grandchildren, Quds, Jaleel, Carmella and Majdal.<\/p>\n

A local Celebration of Life is being planned.<\/p>\n

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to WGCU Public Media.<\/p>\n


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