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The Nashville cottage that houses the Family Barber Shop is constantly buzzing as 63-year-old Patty Stelmaszak adds the finishing touches for a continuous stream of customers.

The barber’s cheerful energy keeps her stepping on and off a wooden wine crate she brought from her first shop in San Diego’s Ocean Beach.

Her business model is simple. Cash only. Affordable, quality haircuts delivered with lively conversation and compassion.

Word around Nashville is that she’s especially welcoming to those who may be undergoing treatment at nearby Vanderbilt University Medical Center or other area hospitals.

On one breezy day with clear blue sky, Stelmaszak plugged in an extension cord and gave Jim Devillez, who was in a wheelchair due to a leg injury, a haircut just outside the door of her shop. That's just something she does sometimes to make life a little easier for those with mobility issues who might need a little extra dose of kindness.

She has a guiding ideal on what she offers college students, young professionals and older adults when they arrive for a haircut: “I want this to be the best 15 minutes of their day.”

On the home front, Stelmaszak and her husband, Jerry, a teacher, have had a long line of dogs.

“You can never go wrong with dogs,” says Stelmaszak. “I have a yellow lab and a blue tick coon hound. I’ve had two greyhounds from the racetracks, one from Birmingham, one from Florida. I’ve had a Weimaraner. I’ve had a boxer. I’ve had a black lab. I’ve had a Chesapeake Bay retriever. I’ve had a chocolate lab. Had a kind of a mixed thing. Dogs are the best thing ever.”

Dogs are right up there with the enjoyment of working in her bustling little barber shop, which she says, “…is the best job ever.”

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Music for The Age of Being Real is "Kites Over the Ocean" by the Kentucky Standard Band from their album "Angels of Mercy."
The Age of Being Real is created by writer and audio producer Rhonda J. Miller.

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Jerry Colpitts began acting as a child, when he and his sister created skits in the kitchen, singing, dancing and doing mime.

When the family moved to a new town their mother entered them in a talent contest - and they won. The thrill of the stage created a lifelong love of acting.

As Colpitts nears his 70th birthday, he’s finding continuing work and joy as an extra, or sometimes larger roles, in independent films.

These current roles come after 22 years as Spider-Man, from 1979 to 2001, making personal appearances around the globe as the superhero for Marvel Comics.

Like anyone who has the good fortune to live through many decades, Colpitts has thrived in good times and survived dark times.

Just before 8th grade he was diagnosed with Type 1 insulin dependent diabetes. He overheard the doctor tell his parents that by 19 or 20 he’d “probably have major challenges.” He discovered he was able to keep from thinking about diabetes when he was playing someone else on stage.

In high school and college in Maine he found his place in theater, then headed for New York.

He got a job as a doorman at The Navarro, a hotel on Central Park South frequented by luminaries like Leonard Bernstein, Luciano Pavarotti and Bruce Springsteen.

Colpitts found occasional work on the soap operas, including “Ryan’s Hope” and “The Guiding Light.”

After two years in the city, he landed the amazing gig as Spider-Man and says,
“I felt totally privileged to wear the webs. It was one adventure after another.”

After “hanging up the webs” in 2001, Colpitts spent 12 years working in business, earning six figures. But it never gave him a thrill equal to being on stage with a group of creative people.

In 2006 he met his “life partner,” Rita Hamilton, a dancer beloved by students in her Brooklyn studio. Dark times came when Hamilton was diagnosed with cancer. She died in 2020.

Colpitts had to face his own personal darkness. Alcohol. He went to a rehab facility in South Florida and has been sober for nine years.

Suffering the grief of losing his life partner, Colpitts took the advice of a friend to audition for “background” work.

“Directors look over who could be in the background. I tend to get picked because I’m tall and thin, six-two and 175 pounds,” he says. “And I still have hair.”

He's been on the set of “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” “Succession,” the series “Evil,” and the Netflix comedy “Kinda Pregnant” with Amy Schumer.

He recently had a major role in an independent film as an “ornery and funny” retired New York Yankees pitcher who’s dying of cancer.

“I’m still living my dream. I still have the energy and the ability to do that. I have more passion about it than I ever had,” says Colpitts.

Does he feel like he was “destined” to be an actor?

“Opportunities kept appearing and if they seemed interesting and worthwhile I’d say ‘yes’ and go forth,” says Colpitts. “I do have a good deal of faith and courage and trust that a Higher Power is looking out for me. Angels have been flying beside me most of my life, I guess.”
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You can read more about Jerry Colpitts in "From Spider-Man to Indie Films, Actor Persists Through Decades" on Next Avenue, an online magazine produced by Twin Cities PBS.

https://www.nextavenue.org/actor-persists-spiderman-indie-films/

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Music for The Age of Being Real is "Kites Over the Ocean" by the Kentucky Standard Band from their album "Angels of Mercy."
The Age of Being Real is created by writer and audio producer Rhonda J. Miller.

Send us a text

Nancy Barker took piano lessons as young girl and says, "I absolutely hated it. But I could sing." She discovered her path in music when a high school boyfriend gave her a guitar for her birthday. She loved guitar and taught herself to play. For her next birthday that boyfriend gave her a dulcimer. That was her next heartfelt connection to music, one that continues to carry her through decades of bringing traditional music to people of all ages.
For a few years, Barker took a conventional path for girls of the time. She went to business school and worked as a secretary. The money she earned in the office gave her freedom to buy a VW camper and hit the road with a friend, playing guitar and dulcimer across the country.
Barker created her own unique musical path over decades. In addition to performing and writing music, she was Kentucky's first artist-in-residence hired by a public school system, a job she held for 15 years. She's also been an adjunct professor, without a college degree, because she says, "They don't make degrees in what I do." She describes what she taught as "music traditions of Kentucky."
Barker has been launching and guiding festivals of traditional music in Kentucky for several decades. She's been the guiding force for Louisville Dulcimer Society, Kentucky Music Weekend, which continued for 40 years, and Kentucky Music Week, which marks its 39th year in June 2024.
Her musical talent and organizational skills are complemented by her generous welcome to share in Kentucky's musical traditions. Kentucky Music Week is a camp and community gathering that offers small group classes in a wide range of offerings, including guitar, dulcimer, mandolin, ukulele, banjo, fiddle, autoharp, penny whistle and vocal performance.
Seventy-eight-year-old Barker has launched a new project with her daughter, Jaeni Barker, who applies her graphic design talent and production skills to their online music school, Kentucky Music Institute.
Nancy Barker describes the generational development of her projects. Kentucky Music Weekend is the grandparent. Kentucky Music Week is the child and Kentucky Music Institute is the grandchild. Nancy and Jaeni Barker are dedicated to keeping Kentucky's traditional music alive.
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You can read more about Nancy Barker in "Making the Planet Better With Traditional Kentucky Music" on Next Avenue, an online magazine produced by Twin Cities PBS.
https://www.nextavenue.org/traditional-kentucky-music/

Support the show

Music for The Age of Being Real is "Kites Over the Ocean" by the Kentucky Standard Band from their album "Angels of Mercy."
The Age of Being Real is created by writer and audio producer Rhonda J. Miller.