Joseph Duncan McLellan, known as Joe, (1929-2005) was The Washington Post's music critic for more than three decades as well as a chess and book reviewer. Joe was born in Quincy, Massachusetts, on March 27, 1929, and grew up in Somerville, Massachusetts. He received his bachelor's degree in French from Boston College in 1951 and his master's degree in French literature, also from Boston College, in 1953. He planned to be a professor of French literature but began doing freelance music reviews and found that he had a talent for journalism.