About

Ted Lerner originally hails from Allentown, Pennsylvania in the USA. That makes him an expert on great hot dogs(Yocco’s) and cheese steaks(Brass Rail), among other vital things.

He attended the then all-boys Lawrenceville School in Lawrenceville, New Jersey for three years and graduated without honors in 1981. He was, however, a fine enough boy to get accepted into the University of Michigan which at the time seemed like a great school because of its massive football program.

In 1985 Ted graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in Communications and a minor in revelry and keg tapping. He first traveled to the Philippines on a lark in 1991 and, while there, Mt.Pinatubo blew up and he couldn’t leave the country. While most foreigners would have freaked out, Ted loved every minute of it and decided this crazy country was the place for him. In 1994 he moved out of Hawaii, where he had lived and worked for 7 years, and took up residence in the Philippine Islands. His column, “Hey,Joe” first appeared in 1995 and ran for six years weekly in Manila’s Businessworld Newspaper.

For four years he was a correspondent for the Asia Times Online, covering the Philippine political scene(including being on hand for an attempted coup!) Over the years he has contributed feature stories to the Wall St. Journal, was the Philippines correspondent for the Ring Magazine for 15 years and also writes regular features for Billiards Digest, the oldest US magazine covering the sport of pool, which is a massively popular sport in the Philippines. Ted also works as a professional emcee for events big and small, including ring announcing and TV commentary for professional boxing and billiard shows.

For the last 4 years he has been the press officer of the World Pool and Billiards Association(WPA), traveling the globe covering the biggest events in pool. Besides “Hey,Joe”, Ted is also the author of the Asian travel adventure book, “The Traveler and the Gate Checkers.” Ted currently lives in the Philippines with his Filipina wife Aurora and their 19 year old daughter.