about

Joe Barry’s writing resurrects long-forgotten voices and provides a seat at the table of contemporary conversation.

As a retired Air Force intelligence officer, Joe employs his experience in deciphering cryptic, incomplete, and contradictory primary sources to resurrect historical narratives and inform current events. His upcoming biography, The First Pursuer: The Kentucky Giant Who Chased Lincoln’s Assassin and Personified a Turbulent Nation, is his debut book. 

The traditional narrative of the Lincoln assassination—that the audience at Ford’s Theater remained stupefied after John Wilkes Booth descended onstage—is incorrect. In The First Pursuer, Joe offers a detailed analysis of prominent Washington lawyer Joseph B. Stewart who sat in the front row, jumped out of his seat, and gave chase to the assassin. However, the book is far more than about that tragic night. It is the story of a man who witnessed and participated in enough history-shaping trends that many of Stewart’s obituaries did not mention his chase of Booth. The First Pursuer is the story of nineteenth century America, and the continuity between the challenges of that era and our present struggles.

Joe is an avid amateur astronomer, and has written for Sky & Telescope Magazine. He first peered through a telescope at ten years-old, and he has been looking up to the heavens ever since. Wherever he can find a cosmic angle to his writing, he will seize the opportunity! 

Joe resides in Tampa. When he’s not under the stars, you can find him in the Tampa Bay Area’s best breweries and coffee houses.