The American Poolplayers Association (APA) and Billiards Digest are teaming up with a group of professional poolplayers, and billiard insiders, to present A Night to Celebrate The Black Widow. The live-stream event will feature several of the sport’s biggest stars sharing their favorite stories about “The Black Widow” Jeanette Lee, who was recently diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer.
A Night to Celebrate The Black Widow will be streamed at facebook.com/poolplayers at 6pm (CT) on Wednesday, Feb. 24. Viewers will be encouraged to donate to the Jeanette Lee Legacy Fund.
The event will be hosted by APA’s Jason Bowman and Billiards Digest’s Mike Panozzo. It will feature Loree Jon Hasson, Nick Varner, Ewa Laurance, Jeremy Jones and Florian Kohler, just to name a few.
Lee, now 49 years old, has vowed to fight the disease through every means available including chemotherapy, which has already begun, as well as upcoming surgeries to slow the onslaught of her illness.
Winner of more than 30 national and international titles, Lee considers her greatest achievement to be her three daughters, Cheyenne (16), Chloe (11) and Savannah (10). Lee has expressed that her biggest concern is the future of her children.
“I intend to bring the same resolve I brought to the billiards table to this fight,” said Lee. “Jim Valvano so eloquently told us to ‘Never give up’. I owe it to my three young daughters to do exactly that.”
In response to that need, a group of her friends, family, and business associates have launched a GoFundMe effort. The Jeanette Lee Legacy Fund was established to help cover Jeanette’s medical expenses in fighting her cancer. And, eventually, to cover the day-to-day needs and college expenses of her three children.
“We wanted to do something special for Jeanette to lift her spirits and to encourage people to donate to the Jeanette Lee Legacy Fund. The outpouring of support for her has been unbelievable, and there are a lot of people that want to be able to support her right now. So, we thought this would be a good opportunity to do that,” said APA Marketing Director Jason Bowman.
“Not only has Jeanette proven herself as a great champion and ambassador for the sport, but she has inspired so many with her courage and fighting spirit. Having her contemporaries, business associates and friends share stories about her should make for an amazing evening,” added Billiards Digest Publisher Mike Panozzo.
