Wimpy Lassiter One of the greatest gets recognition
- Thread starter wrldpro
- Start date
That's pretty cool. I hope they name those things after him.
That's fantastic, he deserves it!!!!
Janscos
At the tender age of 19 I set foot in the Showbar/Janscos/Johnson City IL. Since Varner and I battled during our college years, it was time to test the waters, late fall 1968. I was a pretty good collegiate 14.1 player so I got in the mix.
One night in the pit watching the games I happened to be sitting in the area next to Lassiter, who seemed asleep at his chair, later heard he was always listening to ''loose lips''.
While I was there, someone came up to him to ask about matching up a game, his words. ''I can only play for 16 hrs, then I must go and get my sleep.
At the tender age of 19 I set foot in the Showbar/Janscos/Johnson City IL. Since Varner and I battled during our college years, it was time to test the waters, late fall 1968. I was a pretty good collegiate 14.1 player so I got in the mix.
One night in the pit watching the games I happened to be sitting in the area next to Lassiter, who seemed asleep at his chair, later heard he was always listening to ''loose lips''.
While I was there, someone came up to him to ask about matching up a game, his words. ''I can only play for 16 hrs, then I must go and get my sleep.
"Only" 16hrs. That's priceless. You were lucky to have been there. BTW, i see that Shooter's IS having an Open qualifier on Mar. 2. Great news.
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Good for them....Evelyn and Danny doing the event?
I think Doug(Shooters cue guy) is running it.
The Wright Brothers took a train from Norfolk to Elizabeth City and would stay downtown until they voyaged across the Albemarle Sound to get to the Outer Banks.
I think that is why they were mentioned in the article.
So... did you play him? What happened? Need some more details please. :thumbup:
I asked him a couple of times to play nine ball, the second time I offered to spot him something, anything to get a game.
He politely refused, so I went back to my table. Then all the locals started laughing, so I knew something was up.
"Do you know who that is?" etc etc.
I had heard Lasiter came in from time to time, by then I realized that's who it was.
I walked back to his chair, offering my hand in apology. He shook it with his left hand.
He politely refused, so I went back to my table. Then all the locals started laughing, so I knew something was up.
"Do you know who that is?" etc etc.
I had heard Lasiter came in from time to time, by then I realized that's who it was.
I walked back to his chair, offering my hand in apology. He shook it with his left hand.
Since allot of em wore suits in the 60's, it did make em look allot older, they looked like parents dressed up to go to church. Irving Crane, Balsis, Shorty Al Coslosky, Amadeo, Beenie these guys dressed the part.
The next group was Rempe, Liscotti etc, they dressed sharp but rarely wore a suit coat.
Wimpy was another of the legendary players from an era long gone by.
I found his history on Wikipedia full of great information. Of particular interest to me is the section I copied and pasted here. The reason for my interest is I worked for Mr. Walter Davis and his wife Janet at their home here in Chapel Hill. He is a wonderful person and I got to thank him for helping my wife and I in purchasing our first home. He was very excited and proud when I told him the story of our involvement in his Thrift Plan.
Mr. Davis is the retired CEO of Occidental Petroleum and a multi billionaire. He never forgot his roots or his friends and his employees held a special love for him. To help them all he set up a savings plan called the Thrift Plan. After investing for 5 years in his plan you were guaranteed a 95% return on your money. His plan allowed you to remove the entire sun with no penalty for two reasons, one was to make the purchase of your first home, the other was to fund your first child's college education. My wife and I were able to buy our first home because of his matching funds.
He also never forgot his childhood friend Luther 'Wimpy' Lassiter. Walter set up a pension for Wimpy that helped him in his later years after he retired from pool. Walter also is one of the largest private benefactors of UNC in it's history. Davis library is named after him for some of his donations. Two little boys from Elizabeth City, NC became famous and never forgot each other.
Luther Lassiter spent his final days practically broke, living alone in the house of his childhood in Elizabeth City, on a pension provided by oil tycoon Walter Davis, who was a lifelong friend of Lassiter's. When they were children during the Great Depression, Lassiter would give Davis, who came from a poor farming family, a couple of dollars whenever he needed it, which often meant the difference between eating and not eating. Davis never forgot Lassiter's kindness, and repaid him by taking care of his necessities in his last years.
Here is the link for Wimpy from Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luther_Lassiter
It really is a remarkable story in every way imaginable!
I found his history on Wikipedia full of great information. Of particular interest to me is the section I copied and pasted here. The reason for my interest is I worked for Mr. Walter Davis and his wife Janet at their home here in Chapel Hill. He is a wonderful person and I got to thank him for helping my wife and I in purchasing our first home. He was very excited and proud when I told him the story of our involvement in his Thrift Plan.
Mr. Davis is the retired CEO of Occidental Petroleum and a multi billionaire. He never forgot his roots or his friends and his employees held a special love for him. To help them all he set up a savings plan called the Thrift Plan. After investing for 5 years in his plan you were guaranteed a 95% return on your money. His plan allowed you to remove the entire sun with no penalty for two reasons, one was to make the purchase of your first home, the other was to fund your first child's college education. My wife and I were able to buy our first home because of his matching funds.
He also never forgot his childhood friend Luther 'Wimpy' Lassiter. Walter set up a pension for Wimpy that helped him in his later years after he retired from pool. Walter also is one of the largest private benefactors of UNC in it's history. Davis library is named after him for some of his donations. Two little boys from Elizabeth City, NC became famous and never forgot each other.
Luther Lassiter spent his final days practically broke, living alone in the house of his childhood in Elizabeth City, on a pension provided by oil tycoon Walter Davis, who was a lifelong friend of Lassiter's. When they were children during the Great Depression, Lassiter would give Davis, who came from a poor farming family, a couple of dollars whenever he needed it, which often meant the difference between eating and not eating. Davis never forgot Lassiter's kindness, and repaid him by taking care of his necessities in his last years.
Here is the link for Wimpy from Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luther_Lassiter
It really is a remarkable story in every way imaginable!
The original link does not work for me. I got the following from a search on the paper's website:
http://www.dailyadvance.com/News/2019/02/18/Honors-for-billiards-legend-Lassiter-proposed.html
Here is the text....
Honors proposed for billiards legend Lassiter
By Jon Hawley
Staff Writer
Monday, February 18, 2019
Downtown Elizabeth City may soon show some love for billiards legend Luther “Wimpy” Lassiter, thanks to the Elizabeth City Historic Neighborhood Association.
ECHNA is proposing to create “Wimpy Lassiter Way” along Colonial Avenue from Water Street to Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. Honorary street signs would be placed below the streets' official names.
ECHNA is also proposing to erect a plaque honoring Lassiter at 504 E. Colonial Avenue, where Lassiter started his career, according to its application.
The city's Historic Preservation Commission approved both proposals in a meeting last week, though the street signs also require City Council's approval, according to city staff.
ECHNA President Vidal Falcon said the association has talked about honoring Lassiter for years, given he was a native son of Elizabeth City, six-time World Billiards Champion, and has often been featured in ECHNA's annual Ghost Walk.
Falcon also said ECHNA had proposed a cast aluminum plaque be placed at 504 E. Colonial Avenue, but the city has asked it consider a plaque similar to other historic plaques downtown, such as for the Wright brothers.
According to the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources’ online biography of Lassiter, he was born in 1918 and took to playing pool at a young age, even dropping out of school to pursue the game.
He would go on to become a renowned “hustler” who made money off the game. Lassiter won more than 20 major billiards titles over his career, and is the only person to be inducted into the N.C. Sports Hall of Fame for billiards. He died in 1988.
Lassiter got his nickname, “Wimpy,” according to the DNCR biography, “thanks to his insatiable appetite for hot dogs and soda, much like the Popeye character who ate hamburgers.”
Asked if ECHNA was considering similar honorary signs for other historic figures, Falcon said no. Other prominent figures featured in the Ghost Walk are already fairly well recognized in other ways, he said.
http://www.dailyadvance.com/News/2019/02/18/Honors-for-billiards-legend-Lassiter-proposed.html
Here is the text....
Honors proposed for billiards legend Lassiter
By Jon Hawley
Staff Writer
Monday, February 18, 2019
Downtown Elizabeth City may soon show some love for billiards legend Luther “Wimpy” Lassiter, thanks to the Elizabeth City Historic Neighborhood Association.
ECHNA is proposing to create “Wimpy Lassiter Way” along Colonial Avenue from Water Street to Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. Honorary street signs would be placed below the streets' official names.
ECHNA is also proposing to erect a plaque honoring Lassiter at 504 E. Colonial Avenue, where Lassiter started his career, according to its application.
The city's Historic Preservation Commission approved both proposals in a meeting last week, though the street signs also require City Council's approval, according to city staff.
ECHNA President Vidal Falcon said the association has talked about honoring Lassiter for years, given he was a native son of Elizabeth City, six-time World Billiards Champion, and has often been featured in ECHNA's annual Ghost Walk.
Falcon also said ECHNA had proposed a cast aluminum plaque be placed at 504 E. Colonial Avenue, but the city has asked it consider a plaque similar to other historic plaques downtown, such as for the Wright brothers.
According to the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources’ online biography of Lassiter, he was born in 1918 and took to playing pool at a young age, even dropping out of school to pursue the game.
He would go on to become a renowned “hustler” who made money off the game. Lassiter won more than 20 major billiards titles over his career, and is the only person to be inducted into the N.C. Sports Hall of Fame for billiards. He died in 1988.
Lassiter got his nickname, “Wimpy,” according to the DNCR biography, “thanks to his insatiable appetite for hot dogs and soda, much like the Popeye character who ate hamburgers.”
Asked if ECHNA was considering similar honorary signs for other historic figures, Falcon said no. Other prominent figures featured in the Ghost Walk are already fairly well recognized in other ways, he said.
