- The Palmer Collector -
Model 20, 3rd Catalog
"The Name on the Label"

Name: Kerry Kooken

Cue: Model 20 Palmer, Ultra Supreme

Description: 35 year old cue, ebony, 58 inches tall, tons of inlays, 3 shafts, 2 original with inlays and one spare.

Acquisition: From a dealer in Southern California .

Condition: Original, lightly used, straight, pristine.

Mission: Find the original owner and collect information on the cue.

Owner Located: November 14, 2005,  in Texas. Located son on his cell while at a party. He was excited that his dad's cue was located and put me in touch with Kerry Kooken, Sr.

Tales of the Palmer Collector....

~ Kerry Kooken ~

The Case of the Man who Beat Fats with the Palmer Ultra Supreme
Hi Chris,

       My son Kerry Kooken, Jr. sent me the email you sent him. I paid $550 in 1970 for the #20 Palmer.  I used it for many years and traded the cue  for two cues.  One of the cues I traded for was owned by Rudolf Wanderone, " Minnesota Fats".  That cue has 66 diamonds (Garnets) in the inlays.  The other cue belonged to Keith McCready and was used in the Color of Money movie.  It was made by Schon and it has 46 diamonds (Garnets) in it. The only reason I traded my #20 Palmer was for those two cues.  I still have a #1 and at one time used a #10 Palmer.

      I purchased the cue from Willie Elder who sold the cues in the Houston, Texas area.  The extra shaft was purchased through Palmer some years later.
Yes you can put the story on the web.
     
     I played Minnesota Fats a game of 8-Ball in front of about three hundred people using the Palmer cue you now have.  He broke the rack and made nothing but noise, just like his mouth.  I then ran the rack.  I had my picture taken with him and after the game I asked him for some of his business cards. He was a sport and let me talk him out of a brand new box. 1000 of his cards with his picture and the words, "I've Been Hustled By...The Legendary Minnesota Fats" He then proceeded to sign (stamp) about 200 of them.  He used a small stamp he carried in his pocket to autograph them.
    
      I will send you one along with a copy of the picture, however when the picture was taken I grabbed a house cue because my cue was across the room.   After I beat him that one game in exhibition he asked me where I was from and I said, "Navasota Texas."  He then said I dub you "Navasota Fats".
    
     As I was playing him I heard him say, "That kid has about as much of a chance of beating me as swimming from here to Istanbul underwater."   He also walked up to a chesty lady and said, "Lady you want to follow me around, you had better put a mattress on your back."

Thanks,

Kerry Kooken
"Navasota Fats"
Follow up by the Palmer Collector:

Thanks for the great story, Kerry, or should I say "Navasota".  Fats probably saw that big long black cue and got a little nervous, that's all.

I think you did a good trade, but so did our Governor when he traded his acting career for politics, and look at him now. If you ever want to visit your old cue here in Southern California, you just let me know.

Buy the way, I'm not playing you any 8 Ball, that's for sure!

Chris