Joe Macnamara, aka Joe Mac died of a heart attack yesterday afternoon near Austin, Texas.
Joe Mac was a well known player in Texas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma. His best playing years were in the 70's, 80's, and 90's.
An apt student of one pocket, 9 ball, 10 ball, straight pool, and a decent 3 cushion billiards player, Joe worked in a number of pool halls over the years and owned one in Beaumont during the late 80's.
Joe Mac was a good odds-maker for the games and played very well. He played with great heart and was a truly intelligent man who never attended college. Books and the Internet(when it came along) were very important in his life. The last time I saw him he gave me a book regarding white captives of Indian tribes in Texas, especially focusing on those captured in the Texas Hill Country.
Joe had a lot of heart and also a bit of a temper. I built a cue for him in the mid-90's and a couple of years later I received a package containing the cue and a letter that related how he had lost his temper on a game loss, slammed the cue down and busted the butt cap and a small portion of the ebony butt sleeve. He asked if I would repair it and promised it would not happen again. I fixed the butt and, unknown to him, inlayed a small purpleheart heart in the ebony. I refinished the butt portion and handed the cue off at Big Daddy's in Alvin, Texas. He was so happy to get it back and I asked him if he noticed anything different about the cue? He pulled out his "cheaters", put them on, looked carefully at the butt and started dying laughing when he saw the heart,
I told him, " Mac, when a soldier is wounded, he receives a purple heart. I thought your cue deserved one."
I will miss you Joe Mac until we meet again. Godspeed to your new home!
ps- I never had to repair the cue again!
Joe Mac was a well known player in Texas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma. His best playing years were in the 70's, 80's, and 90's.
An apt student of one pocket, 9 ball, 10 ball, straight pool, and a decent 3 cushion billiards player, Joe worked in a number of pool halls over the years and owned one in Beaumont during the late 80's.
Joe Mac was a good odds-maker for the games and played very well. He played with great heart and was a truly intelligent man who never attended college. Books and the Internet(when it came along) were very important in his life. The last time I saw him he gave me a book regarding white captives of Indian tribes in Texas, especially focusing on those captured in the Texas Hill Country.
Joe had a lot of heart and also a bit of a temper. I built a cue for him in the mid-90's and a couple of years later I received a package containing the cue and a letter that related how he had lost his temper on a game loss, slammed the cue down and busted the butt cap and a small portion of the ebony butt sleeve. He asked if I would repair it and promised it would not happen again. I fixed the butt and, unknown to him, inlayed a small purpleheart heart in the ebony. I refinished the butt portion and handed the cue off at Big Daddy's in Alvin, Texas. He was so happy to get it back and I asked him if he noticed anything different about the cue? He pulled out his "cheaters", put them on, looked carefully at the butt and started dying laughing when he saw the heart,
I told him, " Mac, when a soldier is wounded, he receives a purple heart. I thought your cue deserved one."
I will miss you Joe Mac until we meet again. Godspeed to your new home!
ps- I never had to repair the cue again!
Last edited:
