Incredibly sad news today for us at BrokeAssStuart.com and for San Francisco as a whole: the prolific journalist Joe Kukura, has passed away due to complications with gastric cancer.
Joe began writing for brokeassstuart.com back in 2014, and over the years he wrote hundreds of engaging, poignant, and culturally relevant articles around news, politics, nightlife, charity, and the fabric of the San Francisco Bay Area.
Anyone who's read the news in SF over the past 20 years has at one time or another read Joe’s work, or at the very least seen one of his headlines being shared or referenced in other publications. He will be missed, and although he only lived 55 years, he lived one of the fullest lives possible in all of creation.
When Joe wasn’t breaking news or giving you his time to help you set up your event, he could be found cheering for his native Cleveland Browns at Kilowatt on Sundays, dancing into the wee hours at an underground club, running, costumed at Bay 2 Breakers, enjoying Hunky Jesus in Dolores Park, riding in an art car at Burning Man, or simply sitting in a cafe and eagerly discussing his next story or the latest news breaking on almost any topic.
He was a Renaissance writer, trained in the old-school way of journalism, with a source to contact in any field of knowledge. I had the pleasure of editing his work for some 6 years before he took a full-time gig as an associate editor at the SFist around 2021.
Joe and friends at Breakfast of Champions 2026.
I can remember debating with Joe over who we should include in his annual “Which Famous A**Holes Are Going To Burning Man?” articles, to which out-of-control Tech company needed to be called out that week, to what to include in a profile on the The Secret, Longhair, Radical Activist History of Mayor Ed Lee.
Joe always had an articulate opinion to share or a helping hand to offer; he was funny, strange, hedonistic, creative, tireless, and a true San Franciscan.
If you’d like to browse through Joe’s work over the years, hundreds of his articles are hosted on our archive site here:
When Broke-Ass Stuart heard of Joe’s passing today, he simply said, “He was a great dude and one of us.”
Stuart wrote this about Joe today:
I'm heartbroken to hear about the passing of my dear friend, colleague, and fellow mischief maker Joe Kukura.
We knew that he had been battling gastric cancer since the end of last year, but Kayla and I were just texting with him yesterday saying that we would come by his hospital room and watch a movie with him when we returned from our trip.
Joe was a maniac in the absolutely best way possible, and we had so many shenanigans together. I first met him in 2014 when he popped by the bar when I was working at Monarch and told me, "Hey, I'm writing for you now" and for the next 7 years he was one of the best, most consistent, and cleverest writers we ever had. While he wrote for many publications he spent most of his writing years with SFist and contributed to them until the very end.
Beyond that though, he was a great friend. He always showed up in an insane outfit for any event, from birthdays to Folsom Street Fair, whether it be in little tutu and a tiara, or a ripped wedding gown.
He was naughty, randy, hilarious, loquacious, extremely smart, and down for anything. He always posted on your FB wall on your bday letting you know which other "birthday slut" you shared the day with. And after a few drinks he would invariably brag about how nice of chest he had like "I may be in my 50s Stuart, but I've still got this great chest" while showing it off.
No event we threw was complete without Joe showing up on the early side and staying till he was one of the dwindling few.
Joe Kukura was my friend. I loved him very much. Almost as much as he loved Ohio sports teams. I already miss him deeply. San Francisco will never be the same without him.
And he really did have a great chest.
