Pool historian Charlie Ursitti pens a lovely rememberence of "Auntie Flo" on the Pool & Billiard Magazine blog. Auntie Flo was none other than Flora Mosconi, wife of the late Willie Mosconi. Flora passed away March 25 in hospice care in New Jersey.Writes Charlie: "I first met Auntie Flo back in 1977 while preparing for the ABC's Wide World of Sports telecast of the 'Great Pool Shootout' between Willie and Minnesota Fats. I was going back and forth between New York City and Haddon Heights, New Jersey where the Mosconis lived, bringing contracts and formats for Willie to approve.
"We had talked on the phone many times, but this would be the first time I would meet her in person. She prepared a big meal, for myself, my girlfriend, Willie, her daughter Gloria, her two her nieces, Nancy and Loretta, and herself. Auntie Flo had asked me what I wanted for dinner, and we settled on roast beef, baked potatoes, corn on the cob and New Jersey beefsteak tomatoes that were in season. She reminded me of my own mother the way she had prepared the meal and the warm greeting she gave me."
As promoter for the Great Shoot-Out, Ursitti had a long association with the Mosconis. He has also conducted a meticilous examination of Willie's records, which I reference in a column this month about Mosconi and Ralph Greenleaf. You can check it out in this month's Billiards Digest.
-- R.A. Dyer
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