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TOM FOX: Herald of the Hustler Era
Karen, the writer's widow, said her husband was paid several thousand dollars in advance for the anthology, and expressed disappointment that it never went anywhere. A copy of the completed unpublished book was lost during a move, after her husband's death 15 years ago. Look for it your neighbor's attic, or in file cabinets at your local junk shop.
And or course, Fox was much more than a pool writer; much more than even a sports writer. Fox won perhaps his greatest acclaim as a five-day-a-week columnist for the Philadelphia Daily News. "During more than a quarter century in Philadelphia journalism, Mr. Fox had become a city institution, a writer whose observations and opinions were tracked by loyal readers who believed he talked straight and told it like it was," the newspaper noted in 1989.
Fox died in May of that year after suffering a stroke. He was 64 years old.
For more information about Fox, or to see a copy of his letter to Wimpy Lassiter, go to the Untold Stories Web pages, at Hustlerdays.com or at the Billiards Digest Web site at billiardsdigest.com. I'll highlight other aspects of pool history - especially the sport's colorful oral history - in future columns. Look for interview transcripts, photos and more at the Web sites.
R.A. Dyer, an Austin, Tex.-based writer, is the author of "Hustler Days - Minnesota Fats, Wimpy Lassiter, Jersey Red and America's Great Age of Pool."
For supporting materials, archival photos and more, visit: www.hustlerdays.com
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