Why I enjoyed 25 years behind the barber chair

I always loved going to work. I never knew exactly what was going to happen. Police, firemen, wait staffers, bar tenders, doctors and nurses have the same experience I would imagine. Maybe because of the location and type of shops had a lot to do with

my luck. Here I was lucky enough to spend 30 minutes and get a photo op with one of my heroes this lifetime, Mel Brooks. John Denver was a regular client for his short stay with the Mitchell Trio while in Chicago. When Evel Knievel fell into a tank of sharks I had the distinction of working on him in the hospital. He was to be the Grand Marshall of the Mardi Gras Parade (1977) the next morning. Marvin Glass the toy design magnate made that one possible for me. Burgess Meredith was a an enjoyable experience because I had no idea who he was and we talked hair cut, weather in Chicago, without effort. In relaying that story to a friend he said; "They're making another Rocky Movie this time with out Burgess Meredith being Rocky's trainer/ mentor. They're going to call it Rocky 2 - Pauly goes to college." ;-) The Righteous Brothers came into the Shop and I worked on Bobby Hatfield and Larry Ward worked on Bill Medley. It was the time when radio D.J.'s could make a a band Hatfield asked me if I ever heard of the Righteous Brothers. I said; No. He said watch for us we are going to become an over night sensation. Within a week they were played on all the major Chicago stations as if someone flipped a switch. They were good and often reffered to as blue eyed soul. There was another favorite of mine in the jazz field a flutist named Herbie Mann. It was a treat to ask who he listened to what kind of music he enjoyed. He liked the light classical guys, Debussy, Ravel and Satie. Those were the easy days so many others that showed up that the other stylists worked on offered the "guess who came in today?" game I could play when I came from work.

Other home from work, queries were; "Guess who got killed?, got stuffed in a trunk?, got shot in the head?, going to prison? Life is much more subdued these days........TT