TOM FOX: Herald of the Hustler Era

Fox's courtship of future wife Karen, left, began in 1961 with their regular trips to the hustlers' meets in Johnston City, Ill.

Karen Fox, the writer's widow, said nobody had even heard of Rudolf Wanderone - the man who became Minnesota Fats - when her husband motored down to that first Johnston City event in 1961. As Fox then worked for a newspaper in Evansville, Ill., his idea was to write a story about Evansville oilman Hubert Cokes, the colorful one-pocket specialist known as Daddy Warbucks. But then Fatty was Fatty, and so he couldn't help but steal the show.

"The hustlers listened when the Fat Man talked," Fox wrote in that first Sports Illustrated piece, the one that brought fame both to Fats and Johnston City. "They laughed and poked fun at him. But when an outsider asked questions about the hustlers, they let the Fat Man do the talking. He's the shark's public relations man. ... Fats is a hustler's hustler." Karen Fox said their courtship was born from Tom's almost nightly trips to Johnston City during the first 1961 tournament. At the time, both Karen and Tom worked at the Evansville Courier and Press. Tom was the lead sports writer; Karen worked for the women's section. They were married in 1964.

"When Tom first went [to Johnston City], he took a carload with him," Karen recalled. "He had a station wagon. ... The first night, he took all us girls over. I don't think we got back till 4 a.m., and we had to stay awake and keep Tom entertained so he could drive us home. ... I think some of the girls went a second time, and by the third time, I was the only one willing to go. It wasn't that I was [then] fascinated with Tom; I think I was fascinated with pool. I couldn't believe it. I loved the characters, as much as he did.

"And Tom knew right away, at that tournament, that it was a great story. The movie ["The Hustler"] was such a phenomena. And here's this guy, Minnesota Fats, who had never been written about. Tom was just enchanted, really. ... This culture was unfolding in front of Tom. He knew he had a story by the tail."

Fox was raised one of 10 children in a 10-room house, located a block from the Mississippi River in a neighborhood of New Orleans. He took jobs acting, and worked for a while at the horse track. Like Wimpy Lassiter, Fox spent World War II in the Coast Guard. In 1954, he took a job at the New Orleans Item, long considered a writer's paper. "Tom had a Mississippi understanding of characters and he knew how to get along with gamblers," recalled Karen. In 1963, after making a name for himself at Sports Illustrated, he got hired on by the Philadelphia Daily News. He later went to work for the Philadelphia Inquirer.

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