Major Lawsuit Looms Over Poor Barber

[Ralph]

Neil Armstrong threatens to sue barbershop over hair clippings


CINCINNATI, Ohio (AP) -- Apollo moon mission astronaut Neil Armstrong has threatened to sue a barbershop owner who collected Armstrong's hair after a trim and sold it for $3,000.

Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, used to go to Marx's Barber Shop in Lebanon about once a month for a cut. That stopped when he learned that owner Marx Sizemore had collected his hair clippings from the floor and sold them in May 2004 to a collector.

"I didn't deny it or anything," Sizemore said. "I told him I did it."

Sizemore said Armstrong asked him to try to retrieve the hair, but the buyer did not want to give it back.

"I called Neil back and told him that," Sizemore said. "Then I got this letter from his lawyer."

The letter contends that the sale violated an Ohio law designed to protect the rights of famous people. It threatens legal action if Sizemore does not return the hair or contribute his profit to charity and asks Sizemore to pay Armstrong's legal expenses.

Sizemore, who said he already spent most of the $3,000 on bills, told the lawyer who sent the letter, Ross Wales of Cincinnati, that he will not pay. Wales did not return a call seeking comment.

Sizemore said he sold the hair to an agent for John Reznikoff, a Westport, Connecticut, collector listed by Guinness World Records as having the largest collection of hair from historical celebrities. The collection, insured for $1 million, includes hair from Abraham Lincoln, Marilyn Monroe, Albert Einstein and Napoleon.

Armstrong commanded NASA's Apollo 11 mission to the moon in 1969. He left the space program in 1971 to teach aeronautical engineering at the University of Cincinnati. He seldom appears at public functions or grants interviews.

[jbuck919]

Armstrong commanded NASA's Apollo 11 mission to the moon in 1969.

Oh. Him.

[karlhenning]

We can send a man to the moon, but we can't keep celebrities from grinding the little man into the dust.

[pizza]

Off the top of my head (ha ha) I would say Armstrong doesn't have a leg to stand on because he had no expectation of exercising any control over the hair after it was removed. It was garbage once it hit the floor.

But since I never pursued a tonsorial malpractice case, I'll keep an open mind.

[jbuck919]

Off the top of my head (ha ha) I would say Armstrong doesn't have a leg to stand on because he had no expectation of exercising any control over the hair after it was removed. It was garbage once it hit the floor.

But since I never pursued a tonsorial malpractice case, I'll keep an open mind.

Maybe he's remembering the time when he didn't need a leg to stand on.

[karlhenning]

And we brought him back from the moon ... why, exactly?

:-)

[Ralph]

Off the top of my head (ha ha) I would say Armstrong doesn't have a leg to stand on because he had no expectation of exercising any control over the hair after it was removed. It was garbage once it hit the floor.

But since I never pursued a tonsorial malpractice case, I'll keep an open mind.

*****

This case makes me want to listen to a disc of works by Barber.

[jbuck919]

Off the top of my head (ha ha) I would say Armstrong doesn't have a leg to stand on because he had no expectation of exercising any control over the hair after it was removed. It was garbage once it hit the floor.

But since I never pursued a tonsorial malpractice case, I'll keep an open mind.

*****

This case makes me want to listen to a disc of works by Barber.

I assume you'll want to listen to the works of less gravity.

[Corlyss_D]

Armstrong commanded NASA's Apollo 11 mission to the moon in 1969.

Oh. Him.

Yeah, him. My hero. Why? Not for the moon landing. Because he said: "I have been alloted only so many heartbeats in this life and I'm not about to waste a single one on exercise."

[Werner]

I like that quote!

[jbuck919]

Armstrong commanded NASA's Apollo 11 mission to the moon in 1969.

Oh. Him.

Yeah, him. My hero. Why? Not for the moon landing. Because he said: "I have been alloted only so many heartbeats in this life and I'm not about to waste a single one on exercise."

This explains why he lurks among the member of the Classical Music Guide under the secret name....?

[Corlyss_D]

I assume you'll want to listen to the works of less gravity.

The legal system is accustomed to dealing with hairier problems.

[Ralph]

This story sent me to the ancient archives to re-read Samson v. Delilah, 247 Ancient Hebrew Appeals 3rd 9076.

[operafan]

This is really a case of yet another following the Barber tradition of lining his pockets with cash - Il Barbiere di Cincinati. Wonder if he has enough charm to get away with it.

[Ralph]

I think this guy is, ethically, a cut below other barbers.