The following are emails I received from a players who knew Don. The information has not been verified:
(From Bob Roth, in Hawaii)
"We have
a monthly competition between our Elks Lodge and a Fleet Reserve Association
here in Hawaii. After our recent match, I was telling the folks here
about a guy from my home town named--Don Willis. They were entertained
with my stories. That night I decided to search the Web for his
name. I came across your site and enjoyed the rundown of his
exploits. As a side note, I grew up in Canton and used to hang around old
Louie Lehman's pool hall on West Tuscarawas near Wertz avenue. Naturally,
hanging around a pool hall you meet some colorful characters and hear some
amazing stories. I noticed the old advertisement on your site for 8-Ball
Billiards. I believe that business was owned by Don Dolansky. Don
Dolansky got his start as a maintenance person for Louie Lehman. Anyway,
let share some additional stories about Don Willis. I can vouch for a few
of the stories and would like to share some additions. Some of these
facts can be corroborated by my uncle (Marv L...) still living in Canton and
possibly my cousin (Tom W...) who recently retired as Canton's Chief of Police.
My uncle told me this one.
Apparently, there was a Sportsman's Club that met occasionally to get together
have a few drinks and share some war stories. On one occasion, a
highlight of their meeting was an exhibition match with a prominent pool player
from a neighboring state. This player was scheduled to play a local
favorite named Don Willis. Don was late for the match. While the
group was waiting for Don to show up, they asked the featured pool player to
run through a little history about himself. He told the crowd how he
became the champ in his local and then got so good he had to search for games
throughout the state. Nobody could beat him. He said although he
was the recognized champ, that winning streak came to an end a couple weeks
ago. According to the pool player, an old man in bib overalls came into
his pool hall and gave him a beating like he never had before. While he
was still talking, Don Willis arrived for their match. The pool player
exclaimed "why there's that son-of-bitch, right there!"
Over the years, some other things about Don Willis I heard.
Don loved to bet on anything. Some of the best bets were made in bars and
naturally were part of his Hoorah. I heard that he once bet a guy that he
could hit a golf ball over a half-mile. Once the wager was made, Don
drove out in the winter to a frozen Myer's Lake, teed up and sent the ball
flying. Another bar bet I heard was that he could throw a peanut over a
two-story building. Again, after the wager was set, Don had an
angle. This time he took a hypodermic needle from his vest pocket that
was filled with liquid mercury, injected the peanut shell, and threw the peanut
over the building. Another scam he played on the road was while having a
casual conversation in a bar with a stranger, Don would introduce himself (not
sure if he used his real name) and asked the mark what was his name. More
often than not, the mark's name might be Jones or Smith, etc. Don would
say something like "wow, everyone in this town must be named Smith.
I'll bet there are x number of Smith's here in town?" The mark would
say no. Of course, a bet was in the making. After the wager was placed,
the mark would say "how can prove how many there are?" Don
would say, let's check the phone book. You probably have figured out the
scam. Don had already counted the names of the all the Jones's and Smiths
to have a lock bet.
I had the pleasure of meeting Don Willis on a couple of occasions. He was
the life of the party. Don was an accomplished magician and an avid story
teller. He could definitely captivate an audience. I was a
half-assed magician and I picked up two excellent tricks from him. One
was having a person imagine picking a card and putting it in the deck upside
down. Don would take an un-opened, sealed deck of cards from his
pocket. He then opened the deck fanned the cards and there was only one
card upside down--the picked card. The other trick was making a shot
glass (full of whiskey) disappear and re-appear on the bar. What a
guy! You may not know this, but Don was also a three-card Monte
expert. He could bend the target card, accidentally (yea, right)
drop and show the card, and un-bend and re-bend another, to fool the
mark. Amazing to watch.
Anyway, thanks for documenting the memories."
Here's another from Leon Martin:
"Mr. Moecia. I am from Akron, Ohio, just north of Canton. Don (Canton) Willis was the greatest pool hustler that ever lived, bar none. He taught me the game when I was very young; how to shoot without twisting the shaft, proper english, etc. I could tell you stories about the man, but hell, you probably have heard enough of them. I set up a game with a man named Donnie A...... from Virginia who professed to being the best bar room hustler in the country, and he could shoot the eyes out of the balls. In 1968, it was Don who beat the man out of his shirt and shorts at the D&D Bar in Akron, bad legs and all. I split the pot for setting up the game - $3,000.00. We went out and had steak and champagne, as he called it. I asked him how I could learn to shoot like that? He said to pay attention and keep my mouth shut. Thanks for the information on this great pool hustler and man. Leon Martin"
and another
"Mr. Moecia: Leon Martin, here. I just got off work and was sitting around. My mind drifted to pool and I thought of what you said about there aren't many of us left to talk about the fine players we once knew. I AM 61 years old going on 90. My memory flooded back to one snowy night in 1966 when a college friend and I Decided to go to the Akron Coliseum to shoot a game of pool on the big tables. We abruptly forgot about it and sat back watching Jim Morgan (The uncrowned nine-ball champion of the country) so they said in pool circles, show boating with another very good shooter, Charlie Stoffer. There was a gathered crowd watching and the two players egos were soaring. Anyway, through a side door walked a short, squat man that one would stereotype as perhaps a transit bus driver. He wore a well worn black coat and white scarf loose on his neck. .My friend and I sat at an elevated table within earshot of what was said. The conversation led into Jim Morgan intimating to the short man that he had seen better days on the tables. Jim was an egotistical bastard, BUT he was a hell of a shooter. Anyway, Don WILLIS, being Don, ,took umbrage to this and jerked out a cue, any cue, and without removing his coat lined up the balls and shot wing shots that fell in the pockets as if guided by some mysterious magnet. It was enough to make a man never want to pick up a stick again for fear of shame. Then he placed a ball on the rail about four inches from the center pocket and at a forty-five degree angle proceeded to shoot ball after ball down the rail into the corner pocket. Thing was, he killed the cue ball flush on the rail with each shot. I HAVE NEVER SEEN ANYBODY DO THAT, and I have seen a lot of damned good players shoot. Why ask. Needless to say, the "uncrowned" champion and his side-kick had better things to do the rest of the evening then to shoot the man with the bad legs for money. Don later in life had both his legs amputated because of diabetes. Note: Everything I told you is the absolute truth. If there is a Heaven for great pool shooters, Don WILLIS, WILL BE AT THE HEAD OF THE TABLE. Thank you."
Karl Kantrowitz, from New Jersey writes
I was a college kid, hanging out at
Paddy's 7-11 Pool Hall on Broadway, above the Metropole Cafe near 51st Street
in NYC. Walter Tevis' book, "The Hustler," had just been made into a
movie and pool was hot in NYC. It was a late Spring Friday night, I
believe, in 1965 when Don Willis and Dean Chance strode into Paddy's. They
were both wearing white linen suits and cowboy hats. I never saw anything like
it. Johnny Ervolino, Pots 'n Pans, Brooklyn Jimmy, Fast Eddie, Slim, New York
Blackie, Deano....they were all there. The entire room turned their attention
to Willis and Chance, who were fooling around on a 5x10 billiard table. After
joking around and missing most of their shots, Willis worked the crowd,
masterfully, into a proposition bet: he said that he could play a billiard by
hitting the cue ball into the red ball, then jumping it off the table, running
the cue ball across the floor and then completing the billiard on the floor by
touching the other cue ball, which was about thirty feet away, nestled next to
the foot of a Brunswick Gold Crown across the room. Willis and Chance were
laughing and joking about how impossible such a shot really was, as if anyone
was stupid enough try even try it. Dean Chance, who had already won the Cy
Young Award in the American League, tried to shoot it and couldn't even jump
the table with the cue ball. He "paid" Willis some money and then
said that nobody could make that shot. Willis played the crowd some more and
drew them in for the kill. He "bet" Chance, I think it was $1000,
that he could make it if he got three tries. On the first shot, he almost
miscued, missed by a mile, and there were snickers heard all over the room.
Now, Don moved in for the kill. He side bet with anybody for any amount before
the second shot. A few guys in the room were holding the stakes. I
don't know what the total bet was, but it was a couple of thousand at least.
Now, Don Willis chalked up, jacked up, and struck the cue ball perfectly. It
jumped the table, ran along the uneven and worn out floor boards of Paddy's,
and slowly came to rest as it struck the other cue ball, which Willis had
"casually" placed against one of the feet of the old Gold Crown. The
entire room erupted. Men were almost falling down, laughing, gasping, pointing
and shouting. Don collected the money and he offered to bet again because he
said that it was a lucky shot and he wanted to give everyone a chance to get
their money back. There were no takers. Then Willis and Dean Chance left
Paddy's. I never saw either of them again. I didn't even learn Don Willis' name
until years later when I recounted this story to George Fels. George told me
that Willis played the same con in Chicago at Bensinger's, where the cue ran
down a flight of stairs. The gimmick, of course, is that Willis would go into
the room when nobody was there several days before and figure out where the cue
ball would naturally come to rest on the uneven floor. The rest was simply
taking candy from a baby. This story is true, although I don't know who was on
the "in" and who was on the "out" of the con.
Karl Kantrowitz,
New Jersey
Jay Helfert from (unknown) writes:
Thanks for the info
on Don Willis, one of the more amazing human beings to inhabit the planet. I
saw him first in Johnston City in 1964. He didn't play anyone there, but I
overheard players talking about him with reverence. They equated his ability
with Luther Lassiter, the master 9-Ball player of that era.
A year later, I was
back home in Dayton when I heard that some old guy was at the local pool hall
playing all the best players. I hurried down there to see Don Willis in a ring
9-Ball game with a few of the local champs. He seemed to keep lucking in the 9
ball and everyone was remarking how lucky he was. I kept my mouth shut and
watched him fleece the game for about an hour until all but one guy (Deno) had
quit. Deno tried him some heads up for 20 a game until he went broke. Don said
his thank yous and headed out the door shortly thereafter. He left everyone
shaking there heads, wondering what just happened.
A few years later I
was working as a referee for Fred Whalen at one of his Invitational tournaments
in L.A. He had invited Don to come out and be his guest. Every day Don would sit in the practice room
and tell stories with all the pool players. Once in a while he would get up and
shoot a few wing shots. Most of the time his face was buried in the newspaper
studying college basketball scores and checking the lines on upcoming games.
Another talent of his was the ability beat the sports books. I was told by
those that knew that Don Willis beat college basketball every year for a big
number.
While he was there,
someone challenged him to a foot race and gave him a handicap because he was an
old man. From what I understand (I didn't see it), the handicap was 25 yards in
a 50 yard dash, but Willis had to run backward. Danny Diliberto told me the
story and said Willis won easily.
He was said to
challenge anyone to a game of ping pong and he would use a coke bottle. He
always took a cue off the rack when he played and usually picked a warped one.
In the pool world the stories about him abound. The consensus seemed to be that
he was the best road man ever.
Thanks again,
Jay Helfert
Cat Nelson Givens,
Granddaughter writes
from Portage Lakes, Ohio
Greetings,
I'd like to thank you
for your work about my Grandpa. He was
such a fun man, always sure to entertain us kids with his amazing trick shots
and card tricks after he had a few cocktails. My favorite was when he would have one of us
place the 8-ball someplace down the hall and around the corner from the pool
table room, then he'd carefully get down on his knees, eyeball and eye level
with the ball and he'd get us all to be quiet for the length of time it took
him to inspect the area and then set up the shot. Of course, he'd hit the cueball which would
glance off the ball he'd call and that one would leave the table, glancing off
this wall or that chair and inevitably ending up kissing that 8-ball one of us
had planted. He NEVER missed. NEVER!
Grandpa could also
list on demand all the capital cities of the US in any order you wanted;
alphabetical, by population or whatever you wanted. Or, anything else “m”
countries of the world by alphabetical order, population, anything. He made a living betting on games and on his
knowledge. And, of course, by playing
pool.
The saddest was when
it became too painful for him to stand at the table any more due to his
prosthetics not fitting over his swollen upper legs. He'd had both lower legs amputated due to
diabetes. Then he lost his ability to read due to diminished sight also from
diabetes. He lost his two best friends
that way, as he had always been a voracious reader.
I will always
remember him as a big loving man who had a special scent and a toothpick in his
mouth we'd have to watch out for when we'd kiss him. Also, I see a little of
him every day now that I am older and those lovely jowels of his have decided
to grace my face as well! Thank you! Cat Nelson Givens, Daughter of Barbara
Willis Nelson