Joe Louis Clark: Last News

Joe Louis Clark, the baseball bat and bullhorn-wielding principal whose unwavering commitment to his students and uncompromising disciplinary methods inspired the 1989 film “Lean on Me,” died at his Florida home on Tuesday after a long battle with an unspecified illness, his family said. He was 82.

Joe Louis Clark, the baseball bat and bullhorn-wielding principal who inspired the 1989 film Lean On Me starring Morgan Freeman, died Tuesday at age 82.He died at his Florida home on Tuesday after a long battle with an unspecified illness, his family said in statement.Born in Rochelle, Georgia, on May 8, 1938, Clark´s family moved north to Newark, New Jersey, when he was 6 years old. Inspirational principal: Joe Clark, shown in December 1987, died Tuesday at age 82 at his home in FloridaAfter graduating from Newark Central High School, Clark received his bachelor's degree from William Paterson College (now William Paterson University), a master´s degree from Seton Hall University, and an honorary doctorate from the U.S.