cyrex said:I have an email from him dated May 24, 2004.....
HI Rex, ...GOOD to meet you. YES I'VE BEEN IN POOL AND CUES over 30 years. Few EXCERPTS from my upcoming book"THE UN-VARNISHED TRUTH" on Gus Szamboti,george balabushka and other top cue makers,pool champs and road players i knew personally 1960's to 1990's........Excerpt..A.)"then
gus showed me down into his shop downstairs at his home at 320 Rumph in Penndel,upstairs his wife and mine drank freshly made pink lemonade in the front room, while the white anniversary clock on end table turned slowly,and the wives talked of being married to pool cue guys etc." ////////////////// Excerpt..B.)"" GEORGE BALABUSHKA at 1973 n.e. championship in new london, ct. first day of event. I brought to george 16 butt blanks from the top n.e. cue maker at that time...one of the same cue makers that george got blanks from long before gus szamboti and burton spain !!!!"" EXCERPT..C). ...BOSTON 1970'S ..."LATER WE LEARNED AGAIN, AS HE HAD DONE MANY TIMES BEFORE,SHORTY SENT THE UNKNOWN(THEN)ROAD PLAYER TO BOSTON TO TRAP "INGY"(BOB INGERSOIL) AND "LARRY THE GREEK" ETC.....FEW DAYS LATER THE UNKNOWN PLAYER AND I WENT TO BROCKTON,
PROVIDENCE,SPRINGFIELD,FITCHBURG,WORCESTER + SOME ADDITIONAL TOWNS IN RI CT AND MASS...TODAY EVERY ONE IN POOLDOM KNOWS THIS PLAYER...BUT HE SURE LOOKS DIFFERENT TODAY !" I've been in pool and pool cues since i was 12 years old. in saint michael's school. Yes Frank Paradise was my uncle. Until he died in 1968, i would be at all n.y. city area,ELIZABETH,N.J.area--HI-CUE etc, and at Dolly and her husband's(sid?) place GOLD CROWN in new london,ct. touraments and pool events, often with uncle frank. I traveled with several of the top pool players "on the road" thru 1980's (i.e. luther lassiter, boston shorty, toby sweet etc). have here over 100 vintage cues plus cues and pool history items of most great players thru the 1980's,and those of many celebs also are here,and some current top maker cues come in weekly too. Plus real pool history items from the
cuemaking shops etc of gus szamboti, george balabushka, doc frye, and my uncle frank.
Over 30 years ago i introduced gus szamboti and my good friend GEORGE
BALABUSHKA. During LATE 1960's and well into 1970's I traveled USA selling
exclusively first george's, and then gus' cues at all tourneys and the yearly
johnson city pool gambling events. GUS SZAMBOTI nick named me "the
man who made balabushka famous"....because i sold so many balabushka cues in person at tourneys all across the country !! I was sole supplier of some cue making materials to gus, george and "doc" frye among several others at the time also. I supplied the great leather tips that made george balabushka's cues hit like that. sold same tips to gus szamboti...........see 1980's Smithsonian magazine article on these greatest tips and on bill stroud( i was sole supplier to the indiana tip fanatic that in turn supplied stroud). I still have supply of these same world famous tips today.They are still available today! ""BEST of the Best"" FOR SALE..... this month : 1 OF ONLY 2 MADE-- PROTOTYPE CUE" C A S E S "MADE BY GEORGE ""BALABUSHKA"" VERY EARLY1960'S.... ;for sale: ....2 new BLUE GRASS cues by RICHARD HARRIS ...Joe Balsis' cue 1960's ; GINA CUE NEW ; the Greatest PHILLIPPI cue ; 1 mint cue made in SCHICK shop ;..... 3 mint/new very different cues made in MOTTEY shop one is in exacting style design of a Southwest cue with lizard wrap ; another Mottey is in Gus Szamboti 4 rosewod pts / 4 veneeers classic Traditional cue style with 4 inlaid diamonds below wrap. .....; ....... 2 OF THE FIRST MADE UN-USED OMEGA-dpk cues mint...; ... 1 new Mike WHEELER cue ; ....Also a Dennis SEARING cue; .....a 1970's PALMER Salesman's cue CASE( holds 8 palmer cues)... ;... 4 ROUND PALMER SHIPPING TUBES 1972 TO 1974 ...;..2 large 1990's Palmer shipping boxes(last cues made by Palmer were inside these boxes !!!!! and 3 PALMER cue CASES.....;...... IVORY ferrules and LEATHER Tips that I got from George Balabushka in person in n.y.city, in 1974 . ....... A 1899 TOURNAMENT LOVING CUP(3 HANDLES) FROM THE LAMB CLUB, NYC. ;....... "It's George"
case BLACK LEATHER. .......... AND a SCHICK "HUSTLER CUE" w/ box it was
shipped in !!!!!! SEVERAL UN-USED PALMER SHAFTS 1960'S + 1970'S...;
5 UN-USED RICH CUE SHAFTS 1967 TO 1974....; 2 PARADISE SHAFTS 1950'S + 1960'S. >>>>>>>> ))(( LOOKING FOR RICH CUE COMPANY BROCHURE/ CATALOG FROM 1960'S OR 1970'S... PLEASE E-MAIL ME IMAGES OF THE BLACK WIDOW AND MERRY WIDOW RICH CUE MODELS....I WILL PURCHASE OR TRADE FOR ACTUAL RICH CUE CO BROCHURE / CATALOG. ))((
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< Among the cues here are 4 balabushkas, 9 palmers( 5 unused )from 1970's....one of which has burton spain points ; the finest hitting tim scruggs cue ever made 1980's ; the first 2 omega-DPK cues made by david end of feb. 1989 ; 3 gus szamboti cue 70's ; 2 of gus' own personal cues 1969 and 1970 ; 2 very different 1 of a kind signed 59 inch long dale perry cues un-used ; one burton spain cue ; the first norwela made; the last paradise cue made 1968 ; also the last rambow made ; first jw cue early 1970 ; sw style cue made in mottey shop year 2000 ; 1980 richard black cue ; 4 of jackie gleason's cues ; 2 mosconi's cues ; 3 luther lassiter's cues ; one cue of irving crane ; 3 of boston shorty's cues....plus many items from 1960's thru 1980 from shops of frank paradise, doc frye ,george balabushka and gus szamboti........plus a cue over 120years old almost identical to the one pictured on the cover of first edition of victor stein's huge pool history book! ! ! and more!
Your vintage cue and pool
historian pal, chuck
Looks like I got the total package all in one email of what he's been telling everyone over the years.
Yeah, he's a legend in his own mind!
just more hot air!
Sherm
