OWOSSO, Mich. _ The crowds are gone from Karl Manke's barbershop. Their money is not.
Manke, who is also a novelist, is selling books by the case, he said. T-shirts with his likeness are fetching $42.
Five GoFundMe fundraisers have received more than $88,000. A coffee mug proclaiming him "America's Barber" may join the growing inventory.
When Manke reopened his shop in defiance of a state quarantine order in May, he traded one title for another. A mainstay of small-town America became the face of a revolution.
As the main foil to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, their fight could be billed That Woman From Michigan vs. The Barber From Owosso.
It made him a conservative folk hero, a darling of Fox News. It also made him, at 77, a budding mogul.
Manke, who described himself as a lifelong entrepreneur, said he is nonplussed by the support.
"Holy cow, it just overwhelms me," he said. "I just opened my shop and all this stuff happened. It's been quite a ride."
Viva la revolucion!
Manke is loved or hated by legions of people who know little about him. Well, they know one thing and, in this political climate, that's enough, say critics.
His supporters believe the quarantine, imposed in response to COVID-19, is unnecessary. Detractors say he is helping spread the disease.
But there is more to the Oracle of Owosso or, as his enemies say, Covid Karl.
He is affable, self-deprecating, articulate, said friends. He is snazzy in dress and grooming. He has been married 57 years with grown twin daughters.
"He's a great guy, way outgoing," said Mike Calhoun, a car salesman who knows the barber from church.
Manke is no political firebrand or, at least, wasn't before all of this.
He was just a polka-loving, corny-joke-telling Michigan State University grad who has been cutting hair for 9 years, said friends. He still uses a rotary phone.
The accidental freedom fighter was a political independent who has voted for Republicans and Democrats for president. Yes, he voted for President Donald Trump. No, he didn't vote for Whitmer.
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