Barber shapes up more than hair

By: Neil Abeles - Texarkana Gazette

• Marwin Oliver works out daily at CHRISTUS St. Michael Health and Fitness Center-Atlanta. Always there, he’s one of the most fit members. He keeps himself in shape for his work as a barber, he said. It’s for his customers, his livelihood.

Staff photos by Neil Abeles • It’s easy to laugh if the barber is always agreeing with you and trying to cut your hair well, too. Antarion Sparks seems pleased even before barber Marwin Oliver is finished.

• Here, the sign states, is Marwin Oliver’s place of business on Houston Street in Atlanta.

It all started when, as a little boy, Marwin Oliver would shave his grandfather John Wesley Mack’s chin or trim his hair.

“You’re going to be a barber someday,” Mack told the tyke.

Now this is no idle assumption. It takes a spec...

Published: 03/20/2013