For the past 30 years, a crazy man has been on the loose at
Saint Louis University. But do not worry, he’s harmless.
His name is Larry Cathey. He is known as “Crazy Larry,” and he
is a hair stylist.
He occupies the retail space at the bottom of Marchetti East
Tower, his home away from home for the better part of the last 30
years. Over that span of time he has cut the hair of over 30,000
people.
“I moved over here from the Busch Center in 1976 with 350
customers. In 1980 I had over 500 steady customers and now I’m well
over that mark,” Cathey said. “My guys are good to me and they’ll
keep coming back.”
However, that steady stream of clients has been put in jeopardy
recently due to the opening of a new salon, Salon Ktizo, in the
bottom of the Busch Student Center, right across the street from
his current residence.
“They wanted me to move over there and take over that spot but I
told them that I don’t make nearly enough money to be able to
afford the rent they want to charge me,” Cathey said. “Aside from
that, my guys, my loyal customers, are not going to want to go over
there and pay $20 and get their hair cut in some fufu chick
salon.”
Currently, Cathey charges $13 for basic hair cuts, however he
also does more expensive modern cuts and is going to go back to
school to learn how to do coloring. The problem is that even with
all of his hairdressing expertise and the recent makeover he gave
his shop, which includes painting the walls, some new furniture and
a lot of Billiken merchandise placed about the store, he still
might find it difficult to compete with the new salon.
“I don’t make a lot of money doing this. I do it because I have
a lot of friends and I make a lot of friends and I just really
enjoy cutting hair and getting to know them. Over the summer I work
a lot of jobs just so that I can pay rent and get by until school
starts up again. In fact, this summer I worked five jobs!” Cathey
said.
Conley also gives discounts to nuns, priests and ROTC cadets
too, usually as low as $10 dollars, simply out of an appreciation
for SLU and the many years he has spent here.
“I love doing my job. I bet I’ve lost between $4,000-$6,000
every year just on discounts but that’s ok because I’m not in this
for the money,” Cathey said.
In actuality, Conley has no idea if he will be coming back to
SLU next fall to cut hair.
“Fr. Biondi has always been good to me. He gives me some part
time jobs in the summer and I’ve been cutting his hair for the past
17 years. He came in here last week and told me that he would honor
my lease until the end of it, next July 1. After that, I don’t
know,” Cathey said.
Hopefully, despite the new competition, Conley will be around
cutting hair for 30 more years.
“I started cutting hair for $5. I have never turned a guy away
because he couldn’t pay me and my policy is that if you don’t like
your cut, come back and I’ll fix it for free. I’m good to my guys,”
Cathey said.
Hopefully, they’ll be good to him too, even if he does seem a
bit crazy.
“Hey, I’m crazy, but I’m harmless,” Cathey said.
