newsmakers

newsmakers

Hairstyling pioneer Vidal Sassoon dies

LOS ANGELES

Celebrity hairstylist Vidal Sassoon, whose 1960s wash-and-wear cuts freed women from endless teasing and hairspray, has died. He was 84.

Los Angeles police spokesman Kevin Maiberger says officers went to Sassoon’s home Wednesday morning and determined he was dead of natural causes. Sassoon’s family was present.

The London-born Sassoon’s creative, geometric cuts required little styling. They were an integral part of the look of Mary Quant, the superstar British fashion designer who popularized the miniskirt.

The easy-maintenance cuts also fit right in with the fledgling women’s- liberation movement.

Sassoon developed a popular line of shampoos and styling products bearing his name. His slogan was “If you don’t look good, we don’t look good.”

Libraries pull steamy ‘Fifty Shades’ novels

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.

Public libraries in several states are pulling the racy romance trilogy “Fifty Shades of Grey” from shelves or deciding not to order the best-seller at all, saying it’s too steamy or too poorly written.

Even in the age of e-books and tablets, banning a book from a public library still carries weight because libraries still play such a vital role in providing people access to books.

“When a book is removed from the shelf, folks who can’t afford a Nook or a Kindle, the book is no longer available to them,” said Deborah Caldwell Stone, the deputy director of the American Library Association’s office for intellectual freedom.

“Fifty Shades of Grey,” a novel about bondage, wild sex and yes, love, has been called “mommy porn” because of its popularity among middle-aged women. It has become so well-known that “Saturday Night Live” performed a skit about it, joking that a Kindle with “Fifty Shades” uploaded on it was the perfect Mother’s Day gift.

This week, the steamy books hold the top three spots on the New York Times best-seller list.

Libraries in Wisconsin, Georgia and Florida have either declined to order the book or pulled it from shelves. Other states may soon follow.

Vindicator wire services