Broken neck doesn’t stop Kennewick barber

The rotary phone sitting on the counter of LM Barber Shop rings three times in about 10 minutes.

Each time, Larry Maltos walks to the phone, picks it up and tells someone he is open.

“They’ve been really happy. They’ve been calling me, (and saying), ‘You’re open? You’re back,’ ” the 86-year-old barber says with a smile. “It’s amazing. I like the people who come in here, they’re amazing people. That’s what I really missed the last six months when I wasn’t here”

For 64 years, Maltos has cut hair in Kennewick. He opened his own shop on First Avenue in 1960 after spending seven years working for another barber.

He moves his head carefully as he turns to talk. He recently reopened the storefront after suffering a neck fracture.

Maltos said that he felt his blood pressure dropping, so he tried to walk into the bedroom to lie down, but passed out. When he fell, he hit the wall and broke one of his vertebrae.

“I had a brace on my neck for six months,” he says.

A broken neck couldn’t keep Maltos from what he loves to do. After six months, he returned to work at his store.

“I know my kids wanted me to quit, but I got to be doing something. I’ve never been idle since I was 14 years old,” he says. “I love what I do and I think I’m good at it.”

He enjoys visiting with the people at the store, and they have been good to him.

“I’ve got five generations (of people coming in for) haircuts,” he says. “I’ve seen them grow up to be young men and the children coming in.”

Maltos’ parents came to the United States from Mexico, and he was born in Texas. After working as a migrant laborer, Maltos was drafted in 1950. He served in the Korean War, and when he left the military, he went to barber school.

“I got married right after the service, so I had to do something fast,” he jokes. “I didn’t think I was going to be in this business for too long, but I’m still here. I enjoyed it very much. I raised eight children, and they’ve all done real well.”

He says a lot of things happen in the barber shop. People discuss politics and religion, and the discussions can be heated.

“There have been a husband and wife, and they have been drinking and, oh, so embarrassing,” he says. “There have been a lot of things that have happened in the years.”

This story was originally published October 16, 2016 at 5:25 PM with the headline "Broken neck doesn’t stop Kennewick barber."