Gray counsel

Gray is the new black, as far as hair color for guys goes.

Whew! Timing is everything!

Thank people like George Clooney, Anderson Cooper and other celebrities who are letting their salt and pepper shine.

Movie star Clooney, 44, Comedy Central quasi-news anchor Jon Stewart, 43, and CNN anchor Cooper, 38, see the silver lining in their own hair. Taylor Hicks, 29, stood out during this season’s “American Idol” auditions more for his gray hair than his singing. And there was Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre, 36, gracing a recent cover of Men’s Journal magazine with his silver buzz cut and beard.

Magazine ads for clothing companies and erectile-dysfunction drugs are also featuring more younger men with slivers of silver. A recent GQ magazine article touted the trend as “Gray Is the New Black.”

Cooper, who has been graying since he was 20, wrote an essay in Details magazine about the perks of his shades of gray, which are more sleek and silverish than peppery. “On a guy, gray hair says, ‘I’m mature, stable. I can be relied on.’ ” he wrote. “I can’t honestly say it’s done me any harm. … Give in to gray. Make the most of it while you’re still young.”

Sounds like fine advice for me to follow (cough).