Tom Wirth said:
Sam was hanging around the Washington DC area for a while back in the early to mid 90's a place called USA billiards when I played him. I busted him the one time we played.
Some time later he had some kind of acident and was rolling around in a wheelchair. I'm not sure what happened to him but he was in that chair for a few months. Later on he came in the pool hall walking around and said that the company which loaned him the chair repossessed it for non payment.
That, everybody thought was the most cold blooded thing we ever heard.
Imagine having your wheelchair pulled out from under you! Sam, always ready with something quick to say, smiled and belched out "It was the best thing that could have happened! It got me up on my feet faster."
He was a great figure to have around the pool hall. He encouraged action and always good for a laugh.
Hey, Tom. Long time no see! I had thought you chose a different forum name last time I logged in here.
I remember seeing Seattle Sam at the old Champions (pre-Richard Allen Champions) on Glebe Road in Virginia in the late '70s and early '80s era. I think he used to work there, and you're right, when Sam was in the house, there was usually some action going on.
Last time I saw Sam was in Greensboro, NC, at a place called Baker's, which boasted about having the best hot dogs in the State of North Carolina. That was a really cool pool room. This was during the era when it was quite acceptable for a player to climb onto the table, on all fours, and shoot a shot. There was quite a bit of action at this Greensboro pool room, as I recall. Sam gave us a referral to go to some place in Tennessee, since we were on the road, to play the owner of a pool room there. I want to say the name of the town was Morrison and the owner's name was Frank.
At any rate, we traveled all the way to Morrison, stopping at a few joints along the way, and sure enough, the owner of Morrison's pool room was called in to play my friend some. I remember they had an archery shooting gallery in the room, which caught my interest.
Frank negotiated a game with my road partner. He apparently enjoyed playing champion players in front of a crowd, but he was always looking for a spot. He didn't play that well, but he was a good score if you could get him down.
Well, my friend shot lights out, and after two or three short games, Frank unscrewed his stick. You know who I was on the road with, Tom. Ta watta goose siam.
Years later, I mentioned this pool room to Earl Strickland who knew the place well. He told me that Frank was shot to death by his wife some years back.
Here's my one an only picture of Seattle Sam, with a young me in the middle, and John Henry on the right. As a matter of fact, Tom, this picture was taken at USA Billiards by Dennis Wilson!
JAM