Hairstylist turned poet

Aug. 5—HAVERHILL — Theodore (Ted) Tolios of Bradford spent five decades operating his Ted's Hairstylists salon in Haverhill with his wife Erato (Kafteranis) Tolios. What many people in the city may not know is that Tolios, 85, is a writer and a poet.

You can read about his childhood in Greece during a tumultuous time in that nation's history along with 100 poems (in Greek) as well as reprints of Letters to the Editor on various topics that were published in The Eagle-Tribune in his book titled "It is Fun Riding Around the Sun, Poems of a Greek Immigrant."

"My book reflects my life story — the hardships of war, famine, migration, and the joys of family, friends, and community, by a simple man who left the village and found his way home," Tolios said.

The book, which numbers 268 pages, includes an introduction, in English, in which he talks about his childhood during a time of civil war and famine, along with his Letters to the Editor. His 100 poems are printed in the Greek language.

"In 1945, when I was 10 years old, Greeks celebrated the end of World War II only to be immediately submerged in a Civil War that would affect mostly the northern part of Greece," he writes in his introduction. "A military conflict ensued in my small village between the nationalists and the communists, and we ran to the fields to avoid the violence."

Tolios, 85, lives in Bradford with his wife Erato (Kafteranis) Tolios, whom he married in 1964.