Hairdresser tells of a mother's pain after son goes on rampage

By Tillie Fong
Denver Rocky Mountain News Staff Writer

Susan Klebold was still stunned Thursday, talking to her hairdresser about what her son, Dylan, had done.

"She expressed real surprise, came across very shocked and numb, confused, in disbelief," said Dee Grantz, owner of Four Star Images, 6657 W. Ottawa Ave.

"She said she didn't know who that boy was, and now she wasn't going to be able to find out."

Dylan Klebold, 17, and his friend, Eric Harris, 18, opened fire at Columbine High School Tuesday, killing 12 students and a teacher before committing suicide.

Grantz agreed to discuss Klebold "because a lot of what is going on is very unfair and unkind," she said.

"There is a lot of judgment of parents. Society is making it very difficult for parents to parent."

Grantz said Susan Klebold wasn't different from any parent who visits the salon.

"She seems to share the same values," she said. "She doesn't come off as removed or unconcerned or detached."

Grantz, whose two children graduated from Columbine in the 1980s, said she was surprised to see Susan Klebold Thursday.

"I wanted her to know I was sorry about her child," she said. "That's something every mother has in common, no matter what the child did."

Susan Klebold said she didn't understand what happened to her son.

She told Grantz: "It's so hard to see my son portrayed as a monster when that isn't the boy I know.

"I don't know where all this comes about prejudice. We never taught any prejudice in our home. (Dylan) never talked that way to me. I'm Jewish."

Susan Klebold is the granddaughter of the late Leo Yassenoff, a commercial real-estate developer and a prominent figure in the Jewish community in Columbus, Ohio.

Yassenoff was active at the Temple Israel, and the Jewish Community Center in Columbus is named for him.

Susan Klebold was "definitely brought up Jewish," said Skip Yassenoff, 49, a distant cousin who grew up with her in Columbus.

He said Susan's husband, Thomas Klebold, is not Jewish. He didn't know how Dylan and his older brother, Byron, were raised.