New Article Series on Ralph Greenleaf

[kling&allen]

AZB (Mike) kindly agreed to publish some of my research on Ralph Greenleaf in the Billiard Buzz magazine. I'd appreciate any feedback from the learned members of this forum. And I'm happy to address any questions in the future articles. Here's a link to the first article on Ralph's childhood:

Billiards Buzz - November 2020

Read Billiards Buzz - November 2020 by AzBilliards on Issuu and browse thousands of other publications on our platform. Start here!

issuu.com

The second article will cover Ralph's championship run and the rising popularity of pool. The third will cover his professional and public decline after the death of his parents and his first divorce. And the fourth article will cover his infamous final years.

Thanks,

Sam

 

[alphadog]

Nice article thanks for posting.

 

[kling&allen]

AZB (Billiard Buzz) published my second article on Ralph Greenleaf, this on his rise to the top of the pool world with his victories over the Frank "the Snail" Taberski. The Snail played so slow, 5+ hours for a 125 point 14.1 match (average was 2-3 hours in those days), that Brunswick was desperate to replace him with the young and fast-playing Ralph. Ralph often would close out his matches in under an hour.

Billiards Buzz - December 2020

Read Billiards Buzz - December 2020 by AzBilliards on Issuu and browse thousands of other publications on our platform. Start here!

issuu.com

The last two articles will cover Ralph's fall from grace.

 

[Bob Jewett]

AZB (Billiard Buzz) published my second article on Ralph Greenleaf, this on his rise to the top of the pool world with his victories over the Frank "the Snail" Taberski. The Snail played so slow, 5+ hours for a 125 point 14.1 match (average was 2-3 hours in those days), that Brunswick was desperate to replace him with the young and fast-playing Ralph. ...

There is a story of Taberski taking 20 (or 40?) minutes fretting over a single shot. And then he played the obvious safety.

 

[kling&allen]

There is a story of Taberski taking 20 (or 40?) minutes fretting over a single shot. And then he played the obvious safety.

Yes and even for routine shots he apparently averaged 3 minutes per shot. The newspapers hated him because his matches wouldn't finish in time to be reported in the next morning's paper.

 

[Slide Rule]

Outstanding posts.

Thanks

 

[Bob Jewett]

I just noticed the following in the March 1968 National Billiard News. I wonder if the referenced manuscript ever got published.

 

[tomatoshooter]

There is a story of Taberski taking 20 (or 40?) minutes fretting over a single shot. And then he played the obvious safety.

I generally prefer players to have sufficient time to execute their shots well but there's a level where it becomes indulgent.

 

[kling&allen]

I just noticed the following in the March 1968 National Billiard News. I wonder if the referenced manuscript ever got published.

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Great find Bob. That's two years after Karen Fox's interview with Amelia that can be found here:

An Interview with Greenleaf's Widow, the Princess Nai Tai Tai - Pool History

Vaudeville star Amelia Parker and celebrated billiard champion Ralph Greenleaf met in Philadelphia, and it is there — in the City of Brotherly Love, that Amelia put down deep roots until the end of her days.

poolhistory.com

Before your post, I hadnt seen a mention of a book by Mrs. Greenleaf. There is no record of it in any of the usual databases. If it existed I would assume Karen would be aware of it and it would have been mentioned in the recent reprint of the above article.

Perhaps Amelia's book in 1968 received the same treatment from the publishers that my book did in 2020!

 

[Bob Jewett]

... Before your post, I hadnt seen a mention of a book by Mrs. Greenleaf. There is no record of it in any of the usual databases. If it existed I would assume Karen would be aware of it and it would have been mentioned in the recent reprint of the above article. ...

That was a time when publishers had a large startup cost to print the first copy. I suspect they were not absolutely delighted when they saw the manuscript from Amelia. They were probably thinking, how much is a ghost writer going to cost and how long will it take and how many copies might we possibly sell? Today with self-publishing, we get a lot more "rough cuts".

I suppose it's possible the manuscript still exists and someone in the family has it in box in the attic.