- Known for walking around the high school he was principal at with a bullhorn and a baseball bat.
- Father of Olympic track athletes Joetta Clark Diggs and Hazel Clark, and the father-in-law of Olympic track athlete Jearl Miles Clark. His son JJ Clark was their coach.
- After his tenure as principal of Eastside High, Clark later served as director of the Essex County Detention House in Newark, New Jersey, a juvenile detention facility.
- Wrote the book "Laying Down the Law: Joe Clark's Strategy for Saving Our Schools.".
- Subject of the 1989 film Lean On Me, starring Morgan Freeman.
- Grew up in Newark, New Jersey.
- Served as a U.S. Army Reserve sergeant and drill instructor after college.
- Was the principal of Eastside High School in Paterson, New Jersey.
- Started his education career as a grade school teacher in Paterson, New Jersey and as director of camps and playgrounds in Essex County, New Jersey. He then became principal of School 6.
- Attended Central High School in Newark, New Jersey.
- Has three grandchildren.
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