Fertile Ground for Fiction: Walter Tevis

J

JAM

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Who is Walter Tevis? you ask. Well, for starters, he wrote two novels that center on the game of pool: The Hustler and The Color of Money.

When Toby Kavanaugh was in sixth grade, he befriended Walter Tevis, a new kid who had just moved to Lexington from California.

Tevis, an aspiring writer, was of humble means and quickly became a fixture in the luxurious Kavanaugh home, devouring the science fiction magazines and other books he found in the home and taking a keen interest in an old pool table in the basement that came out of the Lafayette Hotel.

"My mother always liked Walter," Kavanaugh said. "He came over to our house to eat a lot because he didn’t have anything to eat at home."

Tevis dedicated his best-selling novel, The Color of Money, to Kavanaugh "for teaching me to play pool."

As a tribute to this friendship, Dr. Billy Forbess, the current homeowner of the Georgian-style home in Lexington where it all took place, keeps his pool table in the revered spot in the basement.

"There’s a scene in The Hustler when Paul Newman plays a pool tournament in the basement of a big house," Forbess said. "That was copied after this house."”

Read more here --> SOURCE: Stunning Georgian manor on Ashland Avenue is steeped in history, grandeur

Thank you, Dana Bufalo, for sharing this great article with me. :)
 

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deanoc

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Jam.you are a blessing to us on Az
your stories add much to our culture

it would be great to see you write a biography of your friend
 
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KissedOut

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He also wrote the book The Man Who Fell To Earth, which David Bowie made into movie. And an excellent book about the chess world called Queen's Gambit.
 
Bob Callahan

Bob Callahan

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Thank you for posting this.

A guy I know was the rack man when Toby was killed, and knew Tevis very well. He has some interesting stories about Toby's and pool in Lexington during that time.

A couple of articles about Toby's murder:

Charges dropped as murder case unravels

LEXINGTON — Prosecutors dismissed murder charges against a man they blamed in the killing of a popular Lexington pool hall owner nearly seven years ago.

Chief Assistant Commonwealth Attorney Mike Malone dismissed the charge after prosecutors determined that they had too little evidence to build a case against Cody Allen Dunn.

Police had charged that Mr. Dunn bludgeoned Overton “Toby” Kavanaugh on June 17, 1994.

He was charged in the murder a little over a year ago.

The case unraveled when the main prosecutor, Lou Anna Red Corn, discovered that Robert James Wilson, the star witness who said he saw Mr. Dunn emerge from Mr. Kavanaugh's home with blood on his hands, was wrong.

Mr. Wilson, now 25, had been in jail at the time of the killing.

Mr. Dunn, in an interview from prison this week with the Lexington Herald-Leader, said police should have to answer for charging him with a murder without proper evidence.

Mr. Dunn is serving a 35-year sentence for robbery.

“I've been through a whole lot of emotional strain for the past year, and a lot of money was spent on this because the police didn't do their job,” he said.

No physical evidence linked Mr. Dunn to the crime; tufts of hair that Mr. Kavanaugh apparently ripped from his assailant's head, for instance, were a different color than Mr. Dunn's and failed to match his blood type.
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From: http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2001/04/20/loc_kentucky_news_briefs.html


After 13 years, still no arrests in the murder of the Lexington pool hall owner Toby Kavanaugh.

He was found lying in a pool of his own blood.

Police and Kavanaugh's family are again asking for the public's help in solving the case.

Crime Stoppers is offering a one thousand dollar reward for information leading to an arrest in this cold case.

You can call Crime Stoppers at 859-253-2020, or star 2020 on your AT&T wireless phone.
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From: http://www.wkyt.com/home/headlines/11189826.html

Toby Kavanaugh is buried in the Lexington Cemetery: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=51353897

Walter Tevis is buried in the Richmond Cemetery: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/f...yrel=all&GSdyrel=all&GSob=n&GRid=1754&df=all&
 
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Chip Roberson

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Silver Member
Back when the Color of Money came out, Walters niece Penney sent me an autographed copy, I still have that in one of our bookcases. Thanks Jam
 
F

franko

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Thanks

Thanks Jam I have missed stories like this since you pulled back a bit. Your post are always informative and in a way unique.
 
J

JAM

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Due to the resurgence of Watler Tevis' name being mentino in the TCOM thread, I'm bumping up this thread for interested readers. :)
 
K

KissedOut

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
JAM said:
Who is Walter Tevis? you ask. Well, for starters, he wrote two novels that center on the game of pool: The Hustler and The Color of Money.

When Toby Kavanaugh was in sixth grade, he befriended Walter Tevis, a new kid who had just moved to Lexington from California.

Tevis, an aspiring writer, was of humble means and quickly became a fixture in the luxurious Kavanaugh home, devouring the science fiction magazines and other books he found in the home and taking a keen interest in an old pool table in the basement that came out of the Lafayette Hotel.

"My mother always liked Walter," Kavanaugh said. "He came over to our house to eat a lot because he didn’t have anything to eat at home."

Tevis dedicated his best-selling novel, The Color of Money, to Kavanaugh "for teaching me to play pool."

As a tribute to this friendship, Dr. Billy Forbess, the current homeowner of the Georgian-style home in Lexington where it all took place, keeps his pool table in the revered spot in the basement.

"There’s a scene in The Hustler when Paul Newman plays a pool tournament in the basement of a big house," Forbess said. "That was copied after this house."”

Read more here --> SOURCE: Stunning Georgian manor on Ashland Avenue is steeped in history, grandeur

Thank you, Dana Bufalo, for sharing this great article with me. :)
Click to expand...

Just to clarify something, the contest in the basement was a private gambling match not a tournament and they were playing 3 cushion billiards, not pool.

In some ways it is a pivotal scene in the movie as it is the scene where Eddie learns how to be a winner, not just a supremely talented pool player. He can't rely on his pool skills, to an extent, yet he figures out how to use what he had to beat the man. Later when he plays Fats for the second time he is a different player because now he not only plays great he knows how to win.
 
TX Poolnut

TX Poolnut

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Three years before Walter Tevis released his novel The Hustler, Playboy magazine bought the rights and printed a short story by him originally called The Actor that was later renamed and published as The Hustler in their January 1957 edition. If you have a chance, pick up a copy. It's a good pool story.

Interestingly, yesterday would have been his 90th birthday.
 
J

JAM

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
TX Poolnut said:
Three years before Walter Tevis released his novel The Hustler, Playboy magazine bought the rights and printed a short story by him originally called The Actor that was later renamed and published as The Hustler in their January 1957 edition. If you have a chance, pick up a copy. It's a good pool story.

Interestingly, yesterday would have been his 90th birthday.
Click to expand...

This is very odd, but lately, I am remembering people from the past on the day of their birthday. This is the second time this has happened in a week. Playing Twilight Zone theme in my head right about now. :eek:
 
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