Jeanette Lee - Part 3 (Falling in Love with Pool)

Jeanette Lee - Part 3 (Falling in Love with Pool)

In Part 3, the story turns toward the game that changed Jeanette Lee’s life forever. After a difficult and unsettled youth, Jeanette discovers pool and is instantly captivated. What begins as fascination quickly becomes obsession. She describes walking into the poolroom, seeing the game in a new way, and feeling something click deep inside. For the first time, she had found something that demanded everything she had — and gave something back. Jeanette shares what it was like in those early days, balancing work, rent, and survival with a growing devotion to pool. She wasn’t asking her family for money, she didn’t yet see the game as a career, and she had no clear roadmap. What she did have was relentless determination. Every dollar mattered. Every hour at the table mattered. Every lesson mattered. Pool became not just a pastime, but a place of focus, discipline, and possibility. This episode captures the moment when raw hunger began turning into purpose. Jeanette explains how she started entering events, scraping together money, improving little by little, and beginning to believe she could become something in the game. You can hear the energy shift in this part of the story: the turbulence of youth is still there, but now it has direction. This is the beginning of Jeanette Lee the player — still rough around the edges, still learning, but already impossible to ignore. Give Allison, Mark & Mike some feedback via Text. [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2510864/fan_mail/new] Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2510864/support] Follow our show and/or leave a review/rating on: Our website: https://www.legendsofthecue.com [https://www.legendsofthecue.com] Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/legends-of-the-cue/id1820520463 [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/legends-of-the-cue/id1820520463] Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4Za0IMh2SeNaWEGUHaVcy1 [https://open.spotify.com/show/4Za0IMh2SeNaWEGUHaVcy1] Music by Lyrium. About "Legends of the Cue" is a cue sports history podcast featuring interviews with Hall of Fame members, world champions, and influential figures from across the world of cue sports—including pocket billiards, snooker, and carom disciplines such as three-cushion billiards. We highlight the people, places, and moments that have shaped the game—celebrating iconic players, memorable events, historic venues, and the brands that helped define generations of play. With a focus on the positive spirit of the sport, our goal is to create a rich, engaging, and timeless archive of stories that fans can enjoy now and for years to come. Co-hosted by WPA and BCA Hall of Fame member Allison Fisher and Mosconi Cup player and captain Mark Wilson, Legends of the Cue brings these stories to life—told in the voices of the game’s greatest figures.  Join Allison, Mark and Mike Gonzalez for “Legends of the Cue.”

Jeanette Lee - Part 2 (Rebellion, Reinvention, and a Mind That Never Quit)

Part 2 of our visit with Jeanette Lee dives deeper into the turbulent teenage years that helped forge her identity. As Jeanette tells it, this was a time of rebellion, running away, surviving on instinct, and trying to make sense of a life that often felt chaotic and painful. She shares stories of taking jobs while still a child, lying about her age to get by, drifting between homes, and learning early that if a door was locked, she would figure out another way in. It is a portrait of a young woman who was already resourceful, fearless, and impossible to dismiss. This episode also includes one of the most fascinating and emotional stories in the entire interview: Jeanette’s memory of her beloved grandfather’s death, a memory she carried for years only to later discover could not have happened the way she remembered it. The conversation becomes a remarkable reflection on trauma, memory, family, and the mysteries of the mind. Jeanette’s openness here is extraordinary, and it gives this episode both emotional depth and narrative surprise. Along the way, we hear about her early friendships, first love, high school years, and the emotional push and pull between anger, vulnerability, and a longing to belong. Before she ever became a pool legend, Jeanette was already fighting battles most people never saw. This chapter shows the making of the competitor: not yet a champion, but already a survivor with grit, humor, and a will that refused to bend. Give Allison, Mark & Mike some feedback via Text. [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2510864/fan_mail/new] Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2510864/support] Follow our show and/or leave a review/rating on: Our website: https://www.legendsofthecue.com [https://www.legendsofthecue.com] Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/legends-of-the-cue/id1820520463 [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/legends-of-the-cue/id1820520463] Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4Za0IMh2SeNaWEGUHaVcy1 [https://open.spotify.com/show/4Za0IMh2SeNaWEGUHaVcy1] Music by Lyrium. About "Legends of the Cue" is a cue sports history podcast featuring interviews with Hall of Fame members, world champions, and influential figures from across the world of cue sports—including pocket billiards, snooker, and carom disciplines such as three-cushion billiards. We highlight the people, places, and moments that have shaped the game—celebrating iconic players, memorable events, historic venues, and the brands that helped define generations of play. With a focus on the positive spirit of the sport, our goal is to create a rich, engaging, and timeless archive of stories that fans can enjoy now and for years to come. Co-hosted by WPA and BCA Hall of Fame member Allison Fisher and Mosconi Cup player and captain Mark Wilson, Legends of the Cue brings these stories to life—told in the voices of the game’s greatest figures.  Join Allison, Mark and Mike Gonzalez for “Legends of the Cue.”

Jeanette Lee - Part 1 (Brooklyn, Belonging, and the First Battles)

In Part 1 of our conversation with Hall of Fame champion Jeanette “The Black Widow” Lee, we begin where all great life stories begin: at the very start. Jeanette takes us back to her childhood in Brooklyn, where she grew up as a Korean girl in a predominantly Black neighborhood, trying to find where she fit in while navigating racism, loneliness, and the feeling of always being different. She shares vivid memories of Korean school, family expectations, church, discipline, and the cultural values that shaped her, even when she resisted them. Then comes the life-changing diagnosis that altered everything. Jeanette speaks with extraordinary honesty about scoliosis, the devastating surgery that followed, the pain, the body brace, the emotional trauma, and the deep sense of isolation she carried as a young girl. It is a raw and moving account of how physical suffering, shame, and silence began to change the way she saw herself and the world around her. But even in the darkest moments, the fierce spirit that the pool world would one day come to know was already there. Jeanette describes how anger, hurt, and humiliation slowly hardened into defiance. She was not going to go quietly. She was not going to be easy to break. This opening chapter of her story is heartbreaking, revealing, and essential to understanding the resilience, fire, and toughness that would later make her one of the most recognizable figures in cue sports history. Give Allison, Mark & Mike some feedback via Text. [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2510864/fan_mail/new] Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2510864/support] Follow our show and/or leave a review/rating on: Our website: https://www.legendsofthecue.com [https://www.legendsofthecue.com] Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/legends-of-the-cue/id1820520463 [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/legends-of-the-cue/id1820520463] Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4Za0IMh2SeNaWEGUHaVcy1 [https://open.spotify.com/show/4Za0IMh2SeNaWEGUHaVcy1] Music by Lyrium. About "Legends of the Cue" is a cue sports history podcast featuring interviews with Hall of Fame members, world champions, and influential figures from across the world of cue sports—including pocket billiards, snooker, and carom disciplines such as three-cushion billiards. We highlight the people, places, and moments that have shaped the game—celebrating iconic players, memorable events, historic venues, and the brands that helped define generations of play. With a focus on the positive spirit of the sport, our goal is to create a rich, engaging, and timeless archive of stories that fans can enjoy now and for years to come. Co-hosted by WPA and BCA Hall of Fame member Allison Fisher and Mosconi Cup player and captain Mark Wilson, Legends of the Cue brings these stories to life—told in the voices of the game’s greatest figures.  Join Allison, Mark and Mike Gonzalez for “Legends of the Cue.”

100th Episode Show - Part 2 (The Stories That Built Cue Sports)

In Part 2 of the Legends of the Cue 100th Episode Special, Mike Gonzalez, Allison Fisher, and Mark Wilson continue their celebration of the podcast’s first 100 episodes by focusing on what makes cue sports history so powerful: the stories, the storytellers, and the legacy they leave behind. The hosts reflect on some of the best storytellers to appear on the show, from Billy Incardona’s unforgettable road stories to Mitch Laurance’s journey through acting, broadcasting, and pool, and Mary Kenniston’s memories of Buddy Hall and the colorful characters of the game’s golden era. Mark discusses why storytelling mattered so deeply in the pre-cell-phone, pre-YouTube era, when reputations were carried by word of mouth and great poolroom stories became part of the sport’s mythology. This episode also revisits some of the most poignant moments from past interviews, including reflections on family, loss, addiction, resilience, regret, and redemption. The discussion turns to the three closing questions asked of every guest: what they would do differently, which shot they would like to have over, and how they would like to be remembered. Looking ahead, the hosts discuss the future of Legends of the Cue, including upcoming guests such as Jeanette Lee, Jorgen Sandman, Darren Appleton, Alan McManus, and Jimmy White, plus possible future episodes on iconic venues, tournaments, brands, promoters, and lost legends of the game. The episode closes with heartfelt messages from past guests and final reflections from Mike, Allison, and Mark on preserving pool history for future generations. This is more than a podcast milestone. It is a celebration of cue sports, memory, legacy, and the people who built the game. Give Allison, Mark & Mike some feedback via Text. [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2510864/fan_mail/new] Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2510864/support] Follow our show and/or leave a review/rating on: Our website: https://www.legendsofthecue.com [https://www.legendsofthecue.com] Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/legends-of-the-cue/id1820520463 [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/legends-of-the-cue/id1820520463] Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4Za0IMh2SeNaWEGUHaVcy1 [https://open.spotify.com/show/4Za0IMh2SeNaWEGUHaVcy1] Music by Lyrium. About "Legends of the Cue" is a cue sports history podcast featuring interviews with Hall of Fame members, world champions, and influential figures from across the world of cue sports—including pocket billiards, snooker, and carom disciplines such as three-cushion billiards. We highlight the people, places, and moments that have shaped the game—celebrating iconic players, memorable events, historic venues, and the brands that helped define generations of play. With a focus on the positive spirit of the sport, our goal is to create a rich, engaging, and timeless archive of stories that fans can enjoy now and for years to come. Co-hosted by WPA and BCA Hall of Fame member Allison Fisher and Mosconi Cup player and captain Mark Wilson, Legends of the Cue brings these stories to life—told in the voices of the game’s greatest figures.  Join Allison, Mark and Mike Gonzalez for “Legends of the Cue.”

100th Episode Show - Part 1 (Preserving Pool History, One Story at a Time)

In this special milestone episode of Legends of the Cue, co-hosts Mike Gonzalez, Allison Fisher, and Mark Wilson look back on the first 100 episodes of their podcast and reflect on how a simple idea became a growing oral history of cue sports. What began as a conversation after a pool clinic evolved into a mission: to preserve the voices, memories, struggles, triumphs, and personalities of the greatest players and influencers in pool, billiards, snooker, and cue sports history. Allison and Mark share what they hoped the podcast might become, while Mike reflects on learning the game and discovering the extraordinary human stories behind the legends. This episode revisits some of the unforgettable guests who have helped shape the show, including Mike Panozzo, Mike Massey, Billy Incardona, Keith McCready, John Schmidt, Nick Varner, Kelly Fisher, Shaun Murphy, George Ashby, Mitch Laurance, Pat Fleming, LoreeJon Ogonowski-Brown, Gerda Hofstatter Gregerson, Mary Kenniston, and others. The hosts discuss the emotional depth, humor, resilience, and grit that have emerged across these interviews. They also explore how cue sports have evolved over the decades, from the gambling culture of old-school poolrooms to televised events, streaming, social media, modern equipment, template racks, carbon fiber shafts, and the global growth of the game. Part 1 of this 100th Episode Special is a celebration of the people, places, and stories that make cue sports so compelling. It is also a tribute to the champions and characters whose lives deserve to be remembered in their own words. Give Allison, Mark & Mike some feedback via Text. [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2510864/fan_mail/new] Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2510864/support] Follow our show and/or leave a review/rating on: Our website: https://www.legendsofthecue.com [https://www.legendsofthecue.com] Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/legends-of-the-cue/id1820520463 [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/legends-of-the-cue/id1820520463] Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4Za0IMh2SeNaWEGUHaVcy1 [https://open.spotify.com/show/4Za0IMh2SeNaWEGUHaVcy1] Music by Lyrium. About "Legends of the Cue" is a cue sports history podcast featuring interviews with Hall of Fame members, world champions, and influential figures from across the world of cue sports—including pocket billiards, snooker, and carom disciplines such as three-cushion billiards. We highlight the people, places, and moments that have shaped the game—celebrating iconic players, memorable events, historic venues, and the brands that helped define generations of play. With a focus on the positive spirit of the sport, our goal is to create a rich, engaging, and timeless archive of stories that fans can enjoy now and for years to come. Co-hosted by WPA and BCA Hall of Fame member Allison Fisher and Mosconi Cup player and captain Mark Wilson, Legends of the Cue brings these stories to life—told in the voices of the game’s greatest figures.  Join Allison, Mark and Mike Gonzalez for “Legends of the Cue.”