Recalling David D'Amico, a shear artist in many ways

by LEN LEAR

St. Thomas Aquinas once said, "What is evident to the wise is not evident to us all."

What was evident to David D'Amico, who died of esophageal cancer on June 10 at the age of 62, was a simple but elusive truth: that one should treat all others as one would want to be treated. A lifelong resident of Chestnut Hill, D'Amico, who owned Nicholas & David Hair Artistry at 90 Bethlehem Pike for 39 years, truly put this ages-old philosophy into practice.

"His clients adored him," said his daughter, Cynthia, 32, who now runs the salon.

Sonia Leounes, an advertising sales representative for the Local who knew D'Amico for five years, observed, "I always looked forward to visiting Dave at the salon. I would drop by with the intention of putting together an ad with him, but leave feeling like I had been in a therapy session! He had such a calming effect on people, such a cool outlook on life. He was more than a customer to me. He was a friend and sometimes even a spiritual advisor! I will always treasure the memories I have of him." 

One customer I interviewed about six years ago when doing an article on David told me, "David is a gorgeous-looking man, but he's just as humble as he is handsome. He treats everyone like family. If he was into money, he could easily make two or three times as much at a center city salon with his looks and talent, but he is completely dedicated to his customers and to the community. I know he would never leave Chestnut Hill."

As his late dad, Nicholas, also did, David volunteered countless hours down through the years doing free hairstyling for patients at Chestnut Hill Hospital. When I asked him about his generosity, the self-effacing hairstylist, clearly embarrassed, insisted on changing the subject.

"I'd much rather you wrote about Richard Lieberman," he insisted. "Now there is an unselfish man who has been giving so much of his talent and time to this community for decades. It would make me feel so much better if you would spend your time writing about him. He deserves the attention so much more than I do." (Thanks to D'Amico, I did write an article about Lieberman, now 90, who has been teaching sculpture to David and many others for more than 25 years at Allens Lane Art Center in West Mt. Airy.)

D'Amico's artistry was evident in his 20 years of sculpture as well as in his hairstyling. (His late mother, Lucille, was also a sculptor.) David's works in clay, cement and plaster have been exhibited locally at Woodmere Art Museum, Allens Lane Art Center and the Lutheran Seminary in Mt. Airy. He also sculpted busts on commission for area residents. Customers said he was a real softie when it came time to charge for his work. "He just could not bear to charge much money for something he loved doing so much," said one client, "even though his work was obviously of the finest quality."

Also a talented guitarist who loved the music of Bob Dylan, David joined the Navy after earning a cosmetologist's license from Dobbins Tech in 1960. He worked on the flight deck of the USS Enterprise, the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, in the Caribbean during the blockade of Cuba before his military service ended in 1962.

His family's four generations of "shear" artistry began before World War when Natale D'Amico came to the U.S. and opened a barbershop at New Market Square in Center City. Natale's son, Nicholas, and his wife, Lucille, opened Nicholas Hair Styling at Gorgas and Carpenter Lanes in Mt. Airy in 1955 and lived on Glen Echo Road. (Nicholas met Lucille when she was a manicurist, and he often took a bus to have dinner with her family in Vineland, NJ.) From 1945 to 1955 Nicholas owned and operated a barber shop, Nicholas & Gustave, at Germantown and Mt. Pleasant Avenues.

In 1965 David, who attended Norwood-Fontbonne Academy with his pal Franny Rizzo and who started cutting hair at the age of 14, opened his own salon at 90 Bethlehem Pike. (David also trained at the prestigious Vidal Sassoon Hairstyling School in London and became a member of the prestigious Philadelphia Hair Fashion Guild.) In 1970 Nicholas joined his son, and the Chestnut Hill shop became the Nicholas & David Salon.  Nicholas, who had also been a ship fitter, died in 1999 at the age of 85, but David kept his name on the shop as a tribute to his dad's artistry and inspiration.

David once explained his philosophy about hairstyling to me as follows: "Creating and achieving the ultimate hair style is a process. It does not often occur immediately. Your hair needs to have past damage repaired and the foundation for a good hair style initiated through proper cutting and shaping. This process requires time and attention and a willingness to be open to a new hair style. Many customers, though, especially those who are older, resist change. . . If I try something different, I may never see that customer again. I'm sure there are some people out there poking holes in voodoo dolls that represent me."

D'Amico married and divorced twice. His first marriage, to Mary Frances Amato, lasted from 1967 to 1984 and produced two children, Cynthia and Paul. His second marriage, to Catherine Buckley, lasted from 1984 to 1987 and produced one son, Nicholas.

His family asked that any memorial donations be sent to The Fund for the Poor at St. Vincent dePaul Catholic Church, 109 E. Price St., Philadelphia, 19144.

Len Lear's e-mail address is lenlear@chestnuthilllocal.com