On December 30, 2023, academia lost an incredibly important Latin American scholar, Joseph L. Scarpaci. A Pittsburgh native and resident of Blacksburg, VA at the time of his death, Joe was professor emeritus at Virginia Tech where he taught in the fields of geography, urban planning, historic preservation, landscape architecture, and Latin American studies for 20 years. He earned his bachelor’s degree at Rutgers, a master’s degree from Penn State, and his Ph.D. from The University of Florida. As an academic, Joe was a prolific writer and speaker. He published numerous books and was one of those academics who had to include only “selected articles and presentations” on his website because the entire list was so long. Joe was a repeat recipient of the Fulbright Fellowship and was recognized by several academic and professional organizations for his work, including the Association of American Geographers, the Conference of Latin American Geography and the Library of Congress, among others. He was most known for his research on Cuba and Cuban communities in the United States. At the time of his death, he was the Executive Director of the Center for the Study of Cuban Culture + Economy, and was preparing to take a group on his nearly 100th trip to the island. His obituary in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette described him as having an “inimitable free-spiritedness and curiosity throughout his life, opening worlds to people they never knew existed.” He practiced yoga and meditation, and in recent years, built a tree house on his heavily forested property in Blackburg that he rented out to travelers wishing to extend their connection to nature. In other words, Joe was the quintessential geographer. He explored places, worked to understand them at a deeper level, connected people and regions together, fostered a love of geography among his students, and mentored them beyond their graduation. I can say this because he was my professor and later my colleague and friend, an honor I will never forget, and I am a better professional and person because of that. Namaste, Joe. –Sara Beth Keough
