Joel Ross

Joel S. Ross, 62

Clifton Park - Joel S. Ross, 62, of Clifton Park, well-known author, died Friday, April 02, 2010, at Samaritan Hospital Troy after a brief illness.

Born and raised in Bronx, NY, he was son of the late Carl Rosowsky and Gertrude Reitman Rosowsky. He had resided at Lake Placid and the past 20 years in the capital region and earned his Bachelor's Degree from Hunter College.

Joel was a Professor of Abnormal Psychology at Hudson Valley Community College and Berkshire Community College.

From the bio on the back cover of Joel's novel, "Eye for an Eye", he also taught in the infamous Fort Apache, Bronx. He then became a "Frontier Psychologist" working in community outreach in both the South Bronx and Harlem, where he established the first Behavior Therapy Unit at Manhattan Psychiatric Center before moving to the Adirondack Mountains, where he was a clinical evaluator. He then joined New York's Corrections Department as a senior psychologist for its Psychological Screening Unit, where he screened over two thousand potential Correctional Officer candidates. He was later relocated to a special therapeutic program for notorious criminals such as "Son of Sam," the "Amityville Horror House" killer, and others.

Transferred again to New York's maximum security prisons for adolescents, Joel established the department's special education program and was its senior school psychologist. In that capacity he evaluated a record number of approximately five hundred adolescent murderers.

He holds black belts in Tang Soo Do and Jujitsu, which he studied with actor/dancer Gregory Hines and' iconoclastic cop Frank Serpico, respectively. In 1975 he was quoted as a martial arts expert in Sports Illustrated.

He was a member of Horror Writers of America. He also wrote dozens of short stories, including one published by Barnes and Noble and was currently working on two new novels.

Survivors include his beloved girlfriend, Regina Allen of Clifton Park and his two cats, Cochise and Zorro.

At Joel's request, there will be no services.

Add A Private Note To The Family Guest Book

 Service Information