Joe Gagen was born in Jersey City, New Jersey. He began his journalism career at The Record, a daily newspaper in Hackensack, NJ, while still a senior at St. Peter’s College in
Jersey City. He wrote both local and national stories for the Catholic Star Herald in Camden, NJ. He later worked in public relations for the NYNEX Corp. before going into film and video production. He co-wrote and produced the feature film, “Macbeth in Manhattan,” which won several film festival awards and was shown on HBO and Showtime. He has five children, 15 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.