I must take issue with Jim Dodson's column in the Sept. 10 edition concerning the first barber in Pinehurst. Glenn Leslie did say, as Dodson quoted him, "Not exactly -- well, I suppose you might say that I am, although when I came here 15 years ago there was a part-time barber over at the resort."

I don't know if he was the very first, but when my dad and I moved here with our families in 1964 to open a new pharmacy in the Pinehurst Medical Center, Tom Horner had a barber shop right in the village in the old department store building.

It was located approximately where Gentlemen's Corner and The Villager Deli are now located. As far as I can remember, he gave haircuts daily on a year-round basis. When he was old enough to semi-retire, he moved his shop to his home on N.C. 211 toward West End, and cut hair by appointment until he died.

If Tom were alive today he could tell some real tales about the early days before and after Diamond Head.

Glenn is a fine barber and has built a very good business in Pinehurst and has cut my hair many times since Tom died, but he was not the first barber of Pinehurst as Jim implied in his article. Of course, with Jim being away from North Carolina as long as he was, he would not have known Tom or whom to ask.

Hal Reaves

West End