'King of Hobos' Dies at Age 89

[DoYouEverWonder]

November 21, 2006, 3:04 PM EST

NAPOLEON, Ohio -- Maurice Graham, who began hitching rides on trains as a teenager and was known as the "King of the Hobos," has died at the age of 89.

Graham, who recently suffered a stroke, died Saturday at the Northcrest Nursing Home, his family said.

Graham, nicknamed "Steam Train Maury," was a founding member of the National Hobo Foundation and helped establish the Hobo Museum in Britt, Iowa.

He was "a true hobo hero," said foundation president Linda Hughes.

"He was a classy and respected man," she said. "No one can live up to Steam Train. He's irreplaceable."

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-obit-graham,0,6327587.story?coll=sns-ap-nation-headlines

There was a time
When lonely men would wander
Thru this land
Rolling aimlessly along
So many times
I've heard of their sad story
Written in the words
Of dead men's songs.

Down through the years
Many men have yearned
For freedom
Some found it
Only on the open road
So many tears of blood
Have fell around us
'cause you can't always do what you are told.

Please tell me where
Have all the hobos gone to
I see no fire burning down
By the rusty railroad track
Could it be that time
Has gone and left them
Tied up in life's eternal traveling sack.

Last Sunday night
I wrote a letter
To my loved one
I signed my name
And knew I'd stayed away
Too long
There was a time
When my heart was free to wander
And I remember as I sing
This hobo song.

[JeffR]

1. ride the rails to heaven, Steam Train

K & R!

[Lautremont]

2. May Big Rock Candy Mountain finally be yours.

[LiberalHeart]

3. Here's another link about him...

...and the link contains other links, including a couple of videos:

http://www.wtol.com/Global/story.asp?S=5703337

I had the pleasure of meeting Steam Train. He was an amazing man, magnetic, a wonderful aura around him.

[DoYouEverWonder]

5. Thanks for the link

He sounds like he was a really neat guy.

[man4allcats]

4. Take care, Steam Train.

Highball it to the Big Rock Candy Mountains! :hippie: :toast:

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

6. My father was a hobo for a time, back in the day

People did what they had to do for survival.

I wonder if that's why I always enjoyed walking down country roads?

[Strelnikov_]

7. A-No. 1

A real meat eater.

[lpbk2713]

13. Yup.

I remember that time he kicked the shit outta Ernest Borgnine.

[JVS]

18. That fucking ruled!

[Lipton64]

8. Uh, rest in peace....

I guess....

[JVS]

19. He's gone to the big boxcar in the sky

[no_hypocrisy]

9. Go to sleep you weary hobo

Let the towns drift slowly by
Can't you hear the steel rail humming
That's a hobo's lullaby

Do not think about tomorrow
Let tomorrow come and go
Tonight you're in a nice warm boxcar
Safe from all the wind and snow

I know the police cause you trouble
They cause trouble everywhere
But when you die and go to heaven
You won't find no policemen there

I know your clothes are torn and ragged
And your hair is turning grey
Lift your head and smile at trouble
You'll find happiness some day

So go to sleep you weary hobo
Let the towns drift slowly by
Don't you feel the steel rail humming
That's a hobo's lullaby


Hobo's Lullaby
by Goebel Reeves

©1961,1962 (Renewed) Fall River Music, Inc. (BMI)

[Jcrowley]

10. K & R

RIP

[Canuckistanian]

11. Catch that last ride, Steam Train

It's bound for glory...

[Vidar]

12. RIP Steam Train.

[aaronbees]

14. Sad news ...

RIP, railway traveler. You knew some real freedom and led an amazing life.

[On the Road]

15. A Great and Very American Tradition is Passing Away

I put on The Band as a memorial. Probably my favorite song of theirs is

The Hobo Jungle

There was a chill that night in the hobo jungle
Over the train yard lay a smooth coat of frost
And although nobody here really knows where they're goin'
At the very same time nobody's lost

Then the fire went out and the night grew still
This old man lay frozen on the cold, cold ground
He was a stray bird and the road was his callin'
Ridin' the rods
Sleepin' under the stars
Playin' the odds from a rollin' box car

She attended the fun'ral in the hobo jungle
Long were they lovers though never could they wed
Drifters and rounders and distant friends
Here I lie without anger or regret
I'm in no one's debt

Man goes nowhere
Ev'rything comes like tomorrow
But she took that last ride there by his side
He spent his whole life pursuing the horizon
Ridin' the rods
Sleepin' under the stars
Playin' the odds from a rollin' box car

[PsychoDad]

16. Enjoy your ride on the westward, Steam Train..

And Jungle up in Heaven :hi: We'll all meet there with you someday.


Peace

[MGKrebs]

17. A hobo museum? And convention?

Memorial and convention in August. Britt, Iowa. I'm there dude.

[JVS]

20. This dude looks like Uncle Jesse

http://www.hobo.com/