Wonderful, brilliant man. He was unfairly pilloried at the end of his life. Likely drove him to an early grave.
It wasn't "unfair."
Joe went around the bend a few years back and pretty much alienated his audience. It seemed like almost overnight that he went from a sober, deep, engaging writer to a shrill, hysterical one, and after the transition he was basically never heard from again.
I always had a feeling that his sudden shift was more medical than intellectual.