Goodbye to Joe Freed

Abstract

Anyone attending an AFA convention in the mid 1980's and later would know the name Joe Freed, or his business "Thief of Hearts". Joe was always the one laughing, telling jokes, and rebel rousing the attendees as they filtered through the exhibit hall. His generosity toward aviculture as a science was apparent in the many pieces of equipment he donated to the fund raising events and raffles. As well, Joe himself often grabbed the microphone and encouraged convention attendees to "dig deep" and support the organizations and research that would further our professions. Joe was a good spirit; he is the kind of guy that everyone will miss.

What many did not know was how and why Joe appeared in aviculture, and that Joe knew something was wrong. After multiple tests and work ups in someof the top hospitals across the US, he was beginning to despair that the medical profession would ever get it sorted out. It was in the mid '80's and he was laying in bed in a major medical center in Boston, with his wife Kathy by his side, when....