Jeanette Lee
Black Widow fundraiser to close down, having raised over $240K A GoFundMe campaign – The Jeanette Lee Legacy Fund - was launched on February 2 to help the pool’s most recognizeable icon, the Black Widow, by assisting her in covering medical bills as she battles stage 4 ovarian cancer and as a legacy to cover the day-to-day needs and college expenses of her children.
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he pool community responded quickly, with APA’s Jason Bowman and Billiards’ Digest publisher Mike Panozzo hosting A Night to Celebrate the Black Widow, which streamed live, three weeks after the creation of the Legacy fund. It was followed by a series of benefit tournaments, the first of which Lee was able to attend. The fund will come to a close on June 20th, having generated over $240,000 in donations. Over 3,100 people have donated, including large donations from, but by no means limited to Johnny Morris, the owner of Bass Pro Shops, for whom Jeanette was a long-time celebrity spokesperson, donated $50,000, NASCAR legend Tony Stewart donated $10,000 and Chinese media personality Yue-Sai Kan gave $5,000. Most of the gifts, however, were of the $10 to $20 variety, and several donations were from ad hoc events and fundraisers around the country (Charlotte, NC/ Upstate NY/Muncie, IN and Montana, to name a few) that donated their ‘pooled’ contributions. The industry stepped up, as well; Cuetec created and donated 50 custom cues. Matchroom Billiards, Venom and others also contributed. On the medical front, there is cause for optimism. According to her agent, Tom George, Lee is handling chemo very well and is “baldly beautiful.” The chemo has had an obvious positive effect on reduc-
36 | Billiards Buzz • June 2021
