Apart from being a creative artist and a practical businessman, Joe has an active family life. Married for the past four years to beautiful Pat Collins of ABC-TV's _Good Morning America_, he has custody of two sons from a previous marriage. The eldest, 16-year-old Joseph, is already making waves as a bass player, both electric and orchestral. Joe and Pat also have a 3-year-old daughter of their own. An admirer of President Carter since 1975, Joe wrote the music for Carter's campaign song the following year, and has done so again for 1980. In his infrequent spare time Joe loves "tinkering -- banging nails into things, and building stuff. I'm a pretty handy carpenter, a fair electrician." With a mischievous smile he adds: "As a matter of fact, sometimes I think I should go into that full-time, because the music business is chancy." ******** WESTSIDER MASON REESE Not just another kid 6-4-77 "Mason, I've got two very very important pieces of advice to give you," Milton Berle told the youngster when they first met. "Don't believe in Hollywood party promises; and practice, practice and rehearse." Uncle Miltie's words have been a useful lesson for Mason Reese, the boy wonder of television. In 1973, at the age of 7, Mason skyrocketed to fame by winning a Clio Award for best male in a TV commercial. In the same year he co-hosted the _Mike Douglas Show_ for a week and became a children's reporter for WNBC-TV. His picture appeared in _Time_, _Newsweek_, and on the cover of _TV Guide_. Mason's unique face and voice became known to millions. Since that time, however, there have been a few disappointments mixed in with the triumphs. At 11, Mason is wiser and more philosophical about show business. Along with his parents, he has learned not to place faith in verbal agreements, as Berle cautioned. The Reeses welcome me into their West End Avenue home. As I take a seat beside the "borgasmord kid" and look around me at the Chagall prints, Bill and Sonia, Mason's parents, pull up armchairs to listen in and help out. But during the interview, Mason needs no more help with his answers than he did with his first audition at age 5, when he beat out 600 other children to become the spokesman for Ivory Snow. After that he endorsed such products as Ralston Purina, Thick and Frosty, and Underwood Meat Spread, winning a total of seven Clios to date. He's been co-host with Mike Douglas for three weeks and has appeared as a television guest with countless other celebrities. One of my first questions is about children's rights. "I think children have enough rights as it is," he says. "They're with their families, they go to school, they have the pleasure of learning. ... and they realize that when they grow up they'll be able to have more and more fun, as long as they don't go on a mad rampage when they're kids."