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RICHARD HARRIS CUSTOM CUES
Richard Harris was born in Cincinnati in 1957 and grew up near the town of Mowrystown, Ohio and graduated from Lynchburg High School (1975). He earned a degree in Business and Mathematics from Shawnee State University (1988). Richard first became interested in pool in 1974, when his dad bought an old Brunswick pool table with leather pockets, and set it up in the back of their television repair shop. He liked the game because he could beat all his friends. Richard was a good shot maker but knew nothing about playing the game. Then a man named Elwood Patrick brought his television over to be repaired. While Richard's father was working on the television, Elwood took Richard back to the pool table for a few games. The last game they played, Elwood drew the cue ball back about twelve inches for shape on the eight ball. Richard was fascinated with the move, as he didn't know it was possible. Elwood showed him how it was done and Richard has been hooked on pool ever since. Richard's most memorable time playing pool was in Lexington, Kentucky in early 1990. Most of the pros were in town for a big tournament and some of them came over to Steepletons pool hall for their weekly nine-ball tournament on Thursday nights. Richard lived in Lexington at the time and Steepletons was his home court. Richard beat Keith McCready and Johnny Archer back to back, to win the tournament. Not long after that, Richard started making cues. A friend of his had a lathe and other quipment and wanted him to experiment making cues. He thought it might be fun, so he started working on the project. Like playing pool, this fascinated Richard. He couldn't believe that trying to make cues could be so difficult. Working with a retired machinist, Charlie Rose, for about six months and extensively researching cues, he made several test models before finally coming up with the cue that Richard was proud to call his own. While prefecting the cues, Richard and his family were living in Greenup County, Kentucky, and he needed a name for the cues. The name Blue Grass Cues (Kentucky is the Blue Grass State) was finally settled on. Although they no longer live in Kentucky, and the cues have become popularly known as Richard Harris Cues, Blue Grass Cues remains the name of his cues.
Richard has been interested in the making of cues for a long time. In 1981, he
and his wife, Donna, visited McDermott's first new factory. Through the
mid-1980s, a friend, Darrel Bumgardner, from Huntington, West Virginia, always
had a bounty of cues that Richard would look over very carefully. He noticed a
distinct difference in the cues that were made by Paul Mottey. Richard thought
the craftsmanship in the Mottey cues was excellent. When Richard started making
cues, he knew exactly the direction he wanted to go. He liked the hit of a flat
face, wood-to-wood joint, like the McDermott, which he played with for years,
and he liked the craftsmanship of the cues made by hand. Blue Grass cues are easily identifiable by the "Richard Harris" signature that has appeared on the forearms or the butt sleaves on almost every cue that has been made since the early nineties. Since 1992, Richard has put serial numbers under the bumpers of his custom cues.
In 2004, Blue Grass Cues started taking orders online. In less than 6 months
they were backed up more than five years. Richard quit taking new orders
effective January 2005.
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