Barber grooms love of books

Here's a real positive "good news" story that you'll like.

Barber grooms love of books
Former barber Rueben Martinez started out
lending out books to customers. It led to a
MacArthur Foundation "genius grant."
Photo by Bob Riha Jr., USA TODAY

But owner Rueben Martinez is wearing funny glasses. He sees not just the seeds of a bilingual Borders-type chain, but also, perhaps more significantly, a cultural hothouse capable of giving birth to a love of learning.

"Do me a favor, por favorIt's a lifelong loveThe challenge is thereFound in translationThe barber chair stays

Martinez's goal is 25 stores by 2012, each with its own barber chair, much like the hundred-year-old showpiece that is the centerpiece of his crowded office. Upon returning from lunch, he flops down in it and grins.

Martinez doesn't do many 'do's these days, but says the chair will never go. "It's a symbol for our people, especially kids, that you can do anything you desire," he says.

Behind him is a shelf crammed with books, including one titled "A Hombros de Gigantes", or "On the Shoulders of Giants", by Stephen Hawking.

Around these parts, Martinez is the gigante.

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