The Ladies of pool, where are they now?

M

middleofnowhere

Registered
Was just watching a match from the 1990 US Open between Varner and Siegel. In the course of the match because the women were playing alongside there was quite a bit of mention by Grady Matthews and Buddy Hall about the women players.

I tried doing some googling and couldn't find much in particular I wanted to see whatever became of Gloria Walker. Whatever became of the women of pool the '70s '80s and '90s?
 
I watched a youtube match Loree Jon vs Savannah Easton . LJ was pretty strong way back then . She has a pretty stroke but had a difficult time running out in the match .

Chuckg
 
middleofnowhere said:
... I wanted to see whatever became of Gloria Walker. Whatever became of the women of pool the '70s '80s and '90s?
Click to expand...
If no one pipes up here, you might try scanning through the National Billiard News magazines that are in the Goldmine. Even if you don't find what you're after, there's lots of other interesting stuff there.

www.azbilliards.com

Goldmine - AZBILLIARDS.COM

The A to Z of Pool and Billiards Online
www.azbilliards.com www.azbilliards.com
 
middleofnowhere said:
Was just watching a match from the 1990 US Open between Varner and Siegel. In the course of the match because the women were playing alongside there was quite a bit of mention by Grady Matthews and Buddy Hall about the women players.

I tried doing some googling and couldn't find much in particular I wanted to see whatever became of Gloria Walker. Whatever became of the women of pool the '70s '80s and '90s?
Click to expand...
Little disappointing, I guess most of you a
Re too young.
 
middleofnowhere said:
Little disappointing, I guess most of you are too young.
Click to expand...
You might want to give Google a try if you get crickets here. From a 1981 article in The New York Times:

Vicki Frechen is a college graduate who manages an insurance office, but she'd rather shoot pool. Gloria Walker wouldn't dream of missing a game of pool and so she brings her 6-month-old daughter on tour with her. Billie Clark is a grandmother who confides that occasionally she prefers her Buffalo pool hall to her grandchildren.​
​
Here is a clip from a 1989 newspaper on newspapers.com:

1694887407308.png


The 1989 article says that after taking time off to raise her three young children, she was returning to pool. She played poorly at the Valley Forge Classic. At the time she lived near Philadelphia.
 
Bob Jewett said:
You might want to give Google a try if you get crickets here. From a 1981 article in The New York Times:

Vicki Frechen is a college graduate who manages an insurance office, but she'd rather shoot pool. Gloria Walker wouldn't dream of missing a game of pool and so she brings her 6-month-old daughter on tour with her. Billie Clark is a grandmother who confides that occasionally she prefers her Buffalo pool hall to her grandchildren.​
​
Here is a clip from a 1989 newspaper on newspapers.com:

View attachment 719223

The 1989 article says that after taking time off to raise her three young children, she was returning to pool. She played poorly at the Valley Forge Classic. At the time she lived near Philadelphia.
Click to expand...
Near Philly was where she grew up too. It turns out my parents and her parents were friends or neighbors, but my parents moved away before I was born.
 
Look up Joann Mason Parker, she was making big money with pool in the 90s and was a fantastic player. She stepped away from the game for awhile but is back. I met her and her husband here in Chicago, what a great human.

www.timesofisrael.com

Billiards legend and former Jewish educator JoAnn Mason Parker eyes pro comeback

Inducted into California's Jewish Sports Hall of Fame last month, the one-time prodigy mulls bringing her aggressive style back to the professional circuit, after a 26-year hiatus
www.timesofisrael.com www.timesofisrael.com
 
“The top female billiards players, however, are far from paupers. Mason Parker estimates that she makes about $200,000 a year, but she must maintain a busy schedule of exhibitions, corporate appearances, and tournaments to do it.”

www.csmonitor.com

Mason Parker Racks Up Classy Points for Pool

SIX hours before her scheduled appearance as a visiting pool-shooting celebrity at Jillian's Billiard Club, JoAnn Mason Parker arrives at the styli
www.csmonitor.com www.csmonitor.com
 
Pre-2000 is quite a challenge even for me, and I remember all the lady players of 1976-2000. Among highly ranked players, here are a few of those not always found in the spotlight.

Nesli O'Hare, a Top 16 ranked player of the 1990s, has a good job in technology and lives in Indiana.

Peg Ledman, a Top 10 ranked player of the 1990s, went into the outdoor furniture business and I think she lives in Tennessee.

Linda Haywood (now Shea), a Top 16 ranked player in the 1990s, went on to make a great success of the Northeast Women's Pool Tour, now known as JPNEWT.

The truth is that most of the ladies of the early years of the WPBA (1976-1990) are largely forgotten. The main exceptions are Jean Balukas, Robin Bell (now Dodson), Loree Jon Jones, Ewa Mataya Laurance and Belinda Bearden (later Calhoun). All five are found in the BCA Hall of Fame. Women's pool didn't really find the spotlight at all until about 1990.
 
Last edited:
sjm said:
Pre-2000 is quite a challenge even for me, and I remember all the lady players of 1976-2000. Among highly ranked players, here are a few of those not always found in the spotlight.

Nesli O'Hare, a Top 16 ranked player of the 1990s, has a good job in technology and lives in Indiana.

Peg Ledman, a Top 10 ranked player of the 1990s, went into the outdoor furniture business and I think she lives in Tennessee.

Linda Haywood (now Shea), a Top 16 ranked player in the 1990s, went on to make a great success of the Northeast Women's Pool Tour, now known as JPNEWT.

The truth is that most of the ladies of the early years of the WPBA (1976-1990) are largely forgotten. The main exceptions are Jean Balukas, Robin Bell (now Dodson), Loree Jon Jones, Ewa Mataya Laurance and Belinda Bearden (later Calhoun). All five are found in the BCA Hall of Fame. Women's pool didn't really find the spotlight at all until about 1990.
Click to expand...
And Jeanette.
 
Vivian Villareal basically retired and makes spot appearances here and there. Always enjoyed her game.

Jeanette Lee was the face of the APA for years wasn't she?

JoAnn Mason Parker I believe lives in Rockland County, NY and is big in the community there. she is always holding exhibitions, clinics and soon will run a ladies only tournament.
 
Grimper said:
There are literally thousands of female Olympians at every Olympics.
Click to expand...

How does the WPBA work because if each country has a sports federation, why do women have their own professional association?

Based on your numbers pool is still an infant in terms of global exposure to women.

USA does not teach sports pride. Hopefully someone can makeup awards for women to be honored in the industry. First women from each country, first women to break barriers, ...

Pioneering a new industry is what the female players deserve more credit with. Look at the countries today with female youth billiard participation.

Honoring women is a new tradition in some cultures. They need to see it to believe it.

What other groups would the WPA/WCBS recognize?

Does the definition include the current American definition of a woman or the 1950's definition of a woman?
 
Last edited:
Cornerman said:
And Jeanette.
Click to expand...
Jeanette's first full year of competition was 1991 and she really isn't part of the story in the formative years of the WPBA. Same is true of Vivian and Gerda, but all three of them were around by 1992. I might have included Joanne Mason, however, daughter of the renowned pool instructor Harvey Mason. That was an oversight.

For players in the 1990s, I indicated that I was focusing on those away from the spotlight.
 
justnum said:
How does the WPBA work because if each country has a sports federation, why do women have their own professional association?
Click to expand...
You so often post about women's pro pool when it's clear you know almost nothing about it. Did you know that the WPBA was a WPA-sanctioned tour that had, essentially, the same ties to the WPA as the Men's PBT (Professional Billiard Tour). The WPBA was always an organization that produced a tour for ladies under BCA/WPA. Eurotour was, similarly, an organization that produced a women's tour under EPBF/WPA. For many years, Asian women's events would have been organized under the auspices of APBU/WPA. None of these was THE women's professional organization, but they were all part of WPA, which was and is the women's professional organization.

We all feel as you do regarding the importance of women in sports, ours included, but the arguments you make are rarely grounded in fact or any real understanding of where women are and have been in our sport over the years.
 
Last edited:
Jo ann nason parker played in a tournament at my local pool room
A few years ago
Many good local players but you could tell she was a level above most of them
(i think she won…, i did not stay to the end)
 
sjm said:
You so often post about women's pro pool when it's clear you know almost nothing about it. Did you know that the WPBA was a WPA-sanctioned tour that had, essentially, the same ties to the WPA as the Men's PBT (Professional Billiard Tour). The WPBA was always an organization that produces a tour for ladies under BCA/WPA. Eurotour is, similarly, an organization that produced a women's tour under EPBF/WPA. For many years, Asian women's events would have organized under the auspices of APBU/WPA. None of these was THE women's professional organization, but they were all part of WPA, which was and is the women's professional organization.

We all feel as you do regarding the importance of women in sports, ours included, but the arguments you make are rarely grounded in fact or any real understanding of where women are and have been in our sport over the years.
Click to expand...

The historical records are not public. Your account is the best reporting of the situation.
 
justnum said:
The historical records are not public. Your account is the best reporting of the situation.
Click to expand...
And even my account may not be 100% correct. It's the gist of things, however.

All the credit to you for wanting to understand the history of women's pro pool and for caring about its future. That said, your inclination to make unresearched generalizations about the road women in pool have traveled is something you need to rein in.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top