"Don't Worry...It'll Grow Back"

There was a time in American history when the local barbershop was something more than a place to get a trim and a close shave. Gentlemen—from the mayor to the tobacco farmer — drifted leisurely in and out of the shop on an almost-daily basis, greeting one another and staying in touch. Like the British publick houses (the “pubs”), the American barbershop—in communities like Hallowell, Maine and Lenoir, North Carolina and Dyersville, Iowa—was the best place to get up to speed on the local goings-on.
This is a book of true stories inspired by my life as a barber in just such a shop. It is a portrait of successes and failures, of poor judgment and lucky breaks. It is written to remind you—and me—to take this complex thing called life and extract from it the act of living. It also makes an excellent coaster.