Post by sader1970 on Feb 20, 2022 7:10:07 GMT -5
'My passion has poured out of me,' Mark Epstein says while penning bio of Worcester legend Jack 'The Shot' Foley
Epstein, who grew up in Worcester, played under Foley at Boys Trade and was lifelong friend
Published 5:00 a.m. ET Feb. 20, 2022
Worcester’s Mark “Pathfinder” Epstein got so much enjoyment from writing his first book, “They Call Me Pathfinder: Education, Basketball, Equality,” in
2020, that he could not wait to pen a second one.
Epstein, a basketball aficionado, considered several topics, including a history of New York’s Rucker League and Boston Celtics living legends. It was
former Holy Cross coach George Blaney, Epstein said, that suggested a biography of Jack “The Shot” Foley, the Worcester hoops wonder who starred at
Assumption Prep and HC and was Epstein’s coach at Worcester Boys Trade and his lifelong mentor and friend.
The roots of their relationship are detailed in the introduction to “Jack ‘The Shot’ Foley – Remembering a Legend.”
“He was an extraordinary man,” Epstein said during a recent Zoom interview from the “sports office” of his home in South Carolina. “My love of basketball,
my passion has poured out of me in this book. It comes gushing out.”
Epstein, who, like many, calls Foley “the greatest shooter of a basketball in the history of the sport,” saw Foley for the final time about four months before
he passed away at age 81 in November 2020. Epstein had a great visit with Foley and his wife, Gail Raney, at their Barre home that day.
“Basketball didn’t come up,” Epstein said, “except when I walked in, and he said, ‘Mark, we had fun, didn’t we?’ ”
'Well rounded ... smart, funny positive man'
Epstein and Foley went on to become teammates in the Crompton Park League.
Foley, who was a revered Worcester educator and a part-time policeman in Barre, had a zeal for snakes, nature and photography. During that last visit, they
spent some time looking through Foley’s volumes of wildlife photos.
“What I want people to get from the book is how well rounded Jack was,” Foley’s wife, Gail, said, “and what a smart, funny, positive man he was. I’m so
grateful to Mark that he’s taking on this huge project. It’s just something he wants to do, and to think he’s putting this much effort into a story about my
husband is very touching.”
Epstein does his writing in his “sports office,” which is packed with memorabilia, like autographed baseballs, bats and footballs, a framed photo of Epstein
and Celtics legend Bill Russell, Crompton Park League trophies and a Converse sign from Charlie’s Surplus, which was his dad Charles Epstein’s sporting
goods store on Water Street in Worcester.
Epstein’s wife, Barbara, encouraged him to write his first book, which detailed his journey departing Worcester as a broken man and building a new life in
South Carolina, where he has lived for more than 30 years and worked as a basketball coach, teacher and guidance counselor.
“I was writing the first book for me,” Epstein said. “The rest of it became a bonus after it was published. I enjoyed it so much and people enjoyed it more
than I thought they would. I started thinking, ‘maybe there’s a second book in me.’”
For his Jack “The Shot” book, Epstein has interviewed 30 people, including Foley’s friends, neighbors, teammates and players, and Holy Cross great Togo
Palazzi, who was Foley’s basketball mentor. Epstein dedicates a substantial chapter to Palazzi, how he arrived at Holy Cross, his playing and coaching
career and local celebrity, and his first one-on-one encounter with Foley at Holland Rink Playground off Lincoln Street, where, Palazzi recalled fondly upon
Foley’s passing, “he ran 33 straight baskets on me.”
As a kid, Epstein attended Palazzi’s basketball camp. They have remained very close, and they talk every week.
The book also will chronicle the history of Worcester basketball, from parks to high school to college programs. Former Worcester city councilor and mayor
Tim Cooney, who first played basketball at the Ascension schoolyard on Vernon Street and starred at St. John’s High and Assumption, has been a great
resource for that background, Epstein said.
“I gave him a feel for how it all began in Worcester,” Cooney said, “and it was (Holy Cross’) 1947 (NCAA) championship, I think, that got it started.”
'We had the best'
Cooney, who grew up idolizing Bob Cousy and wore his No. 14 at St. John’s, played against Foley in high school — Foley averaged 42 points per game his
senior year — and watched from the standing-room-only area on the stage at Worcester Auditorium the night in 1962 that Foley scored 56 points against
the University of Connecticut. His performance is still a Holy Cross single-game record.
“Worcester people appreciate good basketball,” Cooney said, “and we had the best.”
Epstein realizes the book will have regional, as opposed to national, appeal. He plans to write about 200 pages and hopes to have it out by the end of 2022.
Epstein said Elite Publishers is publishing the book.
He has received endorsements for the book from former UConn coach Jim Calhoun and former Celtics star Tom “Satch” Sanders, among others.
Epstein, a Worcester State graduate, admits he was not a motivated high school student. He was not interested in his trade, printing. He loved basketball,
but was 4-foot-11 and 120 pounds as a freshman in 1966.
“Once I got to high school,” Epstein said, “I was going to do everything I could to make the team. I needed something, and my trade became playing for
Jack ‘The Shot’ for four years. I didn’t play much, but basketball was my entire life back then. Talking to his former players and students, we were all
convinced each of us was his favorite. There is no one who could not have loved playing for him.”
As Epstein writes in the book, he would follow Foley around the gym after practice and ask him basketball questions nonstop. Foley didn’t leave the gym
each night, Epstein writes, until he made 10 straight free throws — blindfolded.
Epstein’s personal recollections and extensive research will be part of “Jack ‘The Shot’ Foley — Remembering a Legend,” a biography of one of Worcester’s
greatest stars, and a tribute to the man who put a basketball in Epstein’s hands the first day of tryouts in November 1966 and had a most profound
influence on him.
"This book is going to be the greatest sports story ever written in Central Mass.," Epstein said. "It's totally incredible, not because of me, but because of the
people involved."
—Contact Jennifer Toland at jennifer.toland@telegram.com. Follow her on Twitter @jentolandtg.
Epstein, who grew up in Worcester, played under Foley at Boys Trade and was lifelong friend
Published 5:00 a.m. ET Feb. 20, 2022
Worcester’s Mark “Pathfinder” Epstein got so much enjoyment from writing his first book, “They Call Me Pathfinder: Education, Basketball, Equality,” in
2020, that he could not wait to pen a second one.
Epstein, a basketball aficionado, considered several topics, including a history of New York’s Rucker League and Boston Celtics living legends. It was
former Holy Cross coach George Blaney, Epstein said, that suggested a biography of Jack “The Shot” Foley, the Worcester hoops wonder who starred at
Assumption Prep and HC and was Epstein’s coach at Worcester Boys Trade and his lifelong mentor and friend.
The roots of their relationship are detailed in the introduction to “Jack ‘The Shot’ Foley – Remembering a Legend.”
“He was an extraordinary man,” Epstein said during a recent Zoom interview from the “sports office” of his home in South Carolina. “My love of basketball,
my passion has poured out of me in this book. It comes gushing out.”
Epstein, who, like many, calls Foley “the greatest shooter of a basketball in the history of the sport,” saw Foley for the final time about four months before
he passed away at age 81 in November 2020. Epstein had a great visit with Foley and his wife, Gail Raney, at their Barre home that day.
“Basketball didn’t come up,” Epstein said, “except when I walked in, and he said, ‘Mark, we had fun, didn’t we?’ ”
'Well rounded ... smart, funny positive man'
Epstein and Foley went on to become teammates in the Crompton Park League.
Foley, who was a revered Worcester educator and a part-time policeman in Barre, had a zeal for snakes, nature and photography. During that last visit, they
spent some time looking through Foley’s volumes of wildlife photos.
“What I want people to get from the book is how well rounded Jack was,” Foley’s wife, Gail, said, “and what a smart, funny, positive man he was. I’m so
grateful to Mark that he’s taking on this huge project. It’s just something he wants to do, and to think he’s putting this much effort into a story about my
husband is very touching.”
Epstein does his writing in his “sports office,” which is packed with memorabilia, like autographed baseballs, bats and footballs, a framed photo of Epstein
and Celtics legend Bill Russell, Crompton Park League trophies and a Converse sign from Charlie’s Surplus, which was his dad Charles Epstein’s sporting
goods store on Water Street in Worcester.
Epstein’s wife, Barbara, encouraged him to write his first book, which detailed his journey departing Worcester as a broken man and building a new life in
South Carolina, where he has lived for more than 30 years and worked as a basketball coach, teacher and guidance counselor.
“I was writing the first book for me,” Epstein said. “The rest of it became a bonus after it was published. I enjoyed it so much and people enjoyed it more
than I thought they would. I started thinking, ‘maybe there’s a second book in me.’”
For his Jack “The Shot” book, Epstein has interviewed 30 people, including Foley’s friends, neighbors, teammates and players, and Holy Cross great Togo
Palazzi, who was Foley’s basketball mentor. Epstein dedicates a substantial chapter to Palazzi, how he arrived at Holy Cross, his playing and coaching
career and local celebrity, and his first one-on-one encounter with Foley at Holland Rink Playground off Lincoln Street, where, Palazzi recalled fondly upon
Foley’s passing, “he ran 33 straight baskets on me.”
As a kid, Epstein attended Palazzi’s basketball camp. They have remained very close, and they talk every week.
The book also will chronicle the history of Worcester basketball, from parks to high school to college programs. Former Worcester city councilor and mayor
Tim Cooney, who first played basketball at the Ascension schoolyard on Vernon Street and starred at St. John’s High and Assumption, has been a great
resource for that background, Epstein said.
“I gave him a feel for how it all began in Worcester,” Cooney said, “and it was (Holy Cross’) 1947 (NCAA) championship, I think, that got it started.”
'We had the best'
Cooney, who grew up idolizing Bob Cousy and wore his No. 14 at St. John’s, played against Foley in high school — Foley averaged 42 points per game his
senior year — and watched from the standing-room-only area on the stage at Worcester Auditorium the night in 1962 that Foley scored 56 points against
the University of Connecticut. His performance is still a Holy Cross single-game record.
“Worcester people appreciate good basketball,” Cooney said, “and we had the best.”
Epstein realizes the book will have regional, as opposed to national, appeal. He plans to write about 200 pages and hopes to have it out by the end of 2022.
Epstein said Elite Publishers is publishing the book.
He has received endorsements for the book from former UConn coach Jim Calhoun and former Celtics star Tom “Satch” Sanders, among others.
Epstein, a Worcester State graduate, admits he was not a motivated high school student. He was not interested in his trade, printing. He loved basketball,
but was 4-foot-11 and 120 pounds as a freshman in 1966.
“Once I got to high school,” Epstein said, “I was going to do everything I could to make the team. I needed something, and my trade became playing for
Jack ‘The Shot’ for four years. I didn’t play much, but basketball was my entire life back then. Talking to his former players and students, we were all
convinced each of us was his favorite. There is no one who could not have loved playing for him.”
As Epstein writes in the book, he would follow Foley around the gym after practice and ask him basketball questions nonstop. Foley didn’t leave the gym
each night, Epstein writes, until he made 10 straight free throws — blindfolded.
Epstein’s personal recollections and extensive research will be part of “Jack ‘The Shot’ Foley — Remembering a Legend,” a biography of one of Worcester’s
greatest stars, and a tribute to the man who put a basketball in Epstein’s hands the first day of tryouts in November 1966 and had a most profound
influence on him.
"This book is going to be the greatest sports story ever written in Central Mass.," Epstein said. "It's totally incredible, not because of me, but because of the
people involved."
—Contact Jennifer Toland at jennifer.toland@telegram.com. Follow her on Twitter @jentolandtg.
