Tom McLain moved to the Roaring Fork Valley in 1966 and began working as a barber. After nearly 60 years, he is retiring — Saturday will be his last day at Aspen Barber Shop. Courtesy of Eric Montemayor

In August 1967, Hunter S. Thompson wrote to San Francisco Chronicle columnist Herb Caen about Aspen saying, “The town has been swamped by refugees from the Haight-Ashbury, and this caused a general freak-out among local merchants who fear for the tourist trade. Hippies ain’t good for business, they say.”

Thompson often was prone to hyperbole, but in the case of Tom McLain, he was on point. Hippies almost killed his business.

McLain had been working as a barber in the Roaring Fork Valley since 1966. He opened Aspen Barber Shop off Wagner Park in 1968 where Stranahan’s Whiskey Lodge is

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