Wendell Weir aka Shane, his hustling name; went to the Pool God in the Sky Sunday night. He was a very close friend of mine along with many others in the Chicago area. He will be greatly missed.
He learned to shoot straight pool around New York City in the early 1960s. His high run was 384 balls. He made his living as a true hustler around NY and Baltimore. He went to Johnson City and took all Steve Cook's cash from him after he won all around, about $25,000 I heard. Played at Chris' Pool Hall in Chicago in the early 1970s, where he won 12 straight weekly tournaments. His picture is still on the wall at Chris'. He was on a pool league with me and a group of guys and we won every league we were on at Main Street Billiards in Algonquin, Illinois in the early 2000s. One story that I heard was Mexican Johnny in about 1970 refused to match up with him. Wendell had a lot of stories and I am not sure that all were real. I, unfortunately, did not know him in his prime, but those that did said he was a real player.
Bless you, my friend, I will miss you. Carl Swanson
He learned to shoot straight pool around New York City in the early 1960s. His high run was 384 balls. He made his living as a true hustler around NY and Baltimore. He went to Johnson City and took all Steve Cook's cash from him after he won all around, about $25,000 I heard. Played at Chris' Pool Hall in Chicago in the early 1970s, where he won 12 straight weekly tournaments. His picture is still on the wall at Chris'. He was on a pool league with me and a group of guys and we won every league we were on at Main Street Billiards in Algonquin, Illinois in the early 2000s. One story that I heard was Mexican Johnny in about 1970 refused to match up with him. Wendell had a lot of stories and I am not sure that all were real. I, unfortunately, did not know him in his prime, but those that did said he was a real player.
Bless you, my friend, I will miss you. Carl Swanson
