Marines Don’t Have Curlers: Forty Years Behind a Styling Chair

Merriam Press Personal Chronicle Series. The story of a U.S. Marine discharged from the Marines in 1972 as the Vietnam War was winding down, he had no particular skills for a job in the States. His cousin, a hairstylist, coaxed him off of the couch and took him to Wilfred Academy of Beauty Culture. He enrolled but was told that he was in the wrong business and was asked to leave before his course was completed. He managed to pass his state board exam and go on to become an award-winning Master Stylist, a career that would take him from the corner beauty salon to the runway during Fashion Week at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, New York. This is not the story of the author's life as a hairstylist, it is a series of 200+ vignettes covering 40+ years of experiences behind a styling chair. These personal stories about his clients are humorous, interesting, sad, historical, inappropriate, sometimes even sexist and, overall, entertaining. With 48 photos.