Staff photo by Fritz Busch
New Ulm retiree Joseph Goor holds “A River of Words,” a collection of poems, lyrics and short stories he had published earlier this year. The 120-page book is available on Amazon and other websites.

many jobs in

his life

By Fritz Busch

Staff Writer

NEW ULM — A local retiree who has done many jobs in his life and visited a fair share of the world, recently published “A River of Words,” a 120-page book of poems, lyrics and short stories.

Born in Worthington, the fifth in a family of eight children, Joseph Goor said he spent a lot of time at the local library.

“Both of my parents worked so we were all taught to be independent and yet a family,” Goor said. “I was the adventurous one, always looking down the road.”

He said over the last year he as inspired to write a poem called “Eternity’s Whisper” that opened a door for him to write more about life and love the things around him so he decided to write the book.

“I hope my words will take you to places that will capture your emotions, wanting to share them with family and friends,” said Goor.

His life is an interesting story in itself.

Growing up in Worthington, he bailed hay and walked bean fields as a youth. He quit high school two weeks into his junior year, joined the U.S. Navy, working with aircraft launch and recovery on the aircraft carrier USS Forrestal CVA 59 from 1973 to 1975.

Goor said his father served on a couple Navy aircraft carriers.

“I’ve been writing poetry since age 16 but I never showed it to anybody,” Goor said. “I started writing more when I was in the Navy,”

After the Navy, Goor said he worked in oil fields in the Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana area, then laid gas pipe in the northwest Georgia mountains.

In 1985, he met his second wife on a Twin Cities late night television dating show. He then moved to Faribault, working at the state hospital until it closed in 1998. He later worked as a Camp Ripley security guard before moving to New Ulm.

Now-days, Goor said he is working on his second book of poems. He also likes to sing Karaoke versions of his favorite songs. Some of his favorite poems can be found on YouTube by searching for 56 JAG.