As I write this, writers and journalists are posting tributes to editor and author Joel Pablo Salud who passed away on March 19. He was 62.

Just a few weeks earlier, Joel went viral as a father drawing attention to his daughter Likha’s serious medical emergency. His posts touched the hearts of many. He did not solicit money. He asked for prayers.

“It is rare to see a person go from dockhand to newsroom janitor to editor-in-chief of the last newsweekly magazine in the Philippines. That is exactly what Joel achieved. He was on fire to write and work as a journalist, a white-hot flame that never faded, but only grew stronger with the march of the years,” wrote Alma Anonas-Carpio, who served alongside Joel in the Philippines Graphic, in her tribute.

Alma adds: “A few weeks before his demise, Joel was working to help raise awareness of Type 1 diabetes, which his youngest child, Likha, has. He’d just spent days taking turns watching over Likha in the hospital with his partner, Che. Likha had been confined in the hospital ICU for diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) a life-threatening condition triggered by her T1 diabetes, which had only been diagnosed after she’d been rushed to the ER. He was drumming up support for this T1 awareness campaign he’d embarked on when he had to be rushed to the hospital because of his heart attack. His physical heart may have succumbed, but his heart for service through writing never died.”

I was thinking of enumerating Joel’s accomplishments as journalist and writer between these two paragraphs above, but I would rather point you to Alma’s tribute as well as Ian Rosales Cosocot’s “in memoriam” post over at Facebook. Joel leaves behind an impressive body of work.

Inday Espina Varona remembered and wrote about Joel’s arrival at the Graphic, and how she came to know more about him as a journalist, colleague and friend, and also his transformations as husband, as a father, and later as a person of faith.

Raymund Villanueva, chair of the Altermidya network, also honored Joel, thanking him for his support for the campaigns to free Amanda Echanis and Adora Faye de Vera. Joel headed PEN Philippines’ Writers in Prison Commission.

In its post, the Christian Writers Fellowship said: “We thank the Lord for the life and testimony of our brother Joel Pablo Salud. His passionate faith and deep love for Jesus will always be an inspiration.”

I’m also seeing posts from many others, including former students who once had Joel as guest speaker on journalism and writing, and his many readers, followers and friends.

I’m fortunate to have known and met Joel many times, and it was an honor to be friends with him. I wish to reiterate here what I had posted on Thursday night: “Joel was kind, generous, and encouraging to younger writers and journalists. I know this first hand because I was a recipient of his encouragement. I did not seek it. He gave it freely. To receive private and public praise from Joel — a veteran journalist, editor, and author —was always a pleasant and welcome surprise. I will miss those messages and those posts.”

Together with many others, we send condolences to Che, Likha, Lenin, Rei and other loved ones of Joel.

I wish to end this column by quoting one of Joel’s final posts on Substack, dated March 2, 2026 and entitled “Lessons learned in a little over 40 years as writer of fiction and as a journalist”:

1. Life can be stranger than fiction, so be careful where you tread.

2. Kill your darlings, writers say on the matter of adjectives. I say murder everything unnecessary in the story, including yourself.

3. Make no room for melodrama, unless you’re the late Gabriel García Marquez who can pull it off.

4. Better to paint baby blue skies than purple prose.

5. Don’t drop everything you know and have imagined in one piece. Your tale is not a landfill.

6. Let your fictional characters breathe. Unless necessary, they don’t have to be in every chapter.

7. Avoid long-a** sermons.

8. Express, don’t impress.

9. When building worlds, make sure they are logically livable.

10. When publishers reject your manuscript, throw a fit for 5 whole minutes, scream as loud as you can, take a long shower, wear your expensive perfume, order the best pot roast in town, sit your butt down, and write.

For this and a whole lot more, thank you “sir chief” Joel.