Greek-American billiards great dies
American billiards great Jimmy Caras, the son of a Greek immigrant father and a leading force in pocket billiards with four world championship titles and the United States Open to his credit, died in Jacksonville, Florida last Tuesday at age of 93, The New York Times reported yesterday. Caras, who was inducted into the Billiard Congress of America Hall of Fame in 1977 and was rated as the 10th greatest player of the 20th century by the Billiards Digest publication, spent six decades competing on the circuit. Last year, Caras was still driving his Cadillac a short distance to a local billiard parlor in Jacksonville to shoot a few racks. Caras won world titles in 1936, ’38, ’39, and 1949, then returned from 12 years in semi-retirement to win the US Open in 1967. Nicknamed «Boy Wonder» after displaying extraordinary ability at billiards from a young age, Caras grew up in Wilmington, Delaware, where his father ran a pool hall. «I’d come home from high school with books under my arm. I’d walk in and Dad would say, ‘I want you to play someone for $100,’» Caras told The New York Times last year. «One time he lined up this $100 match and I peeked in the cash register and saw only $35. I said, ‘Dad, what if I lose?’ He said, ‘You won’t lose.’ Talk about pressure.»
