Obit: Steam Train Maury Graham 1917-2006

Subject: Obit: Steam Train Maury Graham 1917-2006
From: GUEST,Art Thieme
Date: 22 Nov 06 - 11:17 PM

Folks, he was the real McCoy! Started riding the trains as a kid--age 8. Check into his book: "TALES OF THE IRON ROAD"

Maury Graham was named King Of the Hobos five times at the National Hobo Convention held every year in Britt, Iowa. In 2004 he was given the title Grand Patriarch Of Hobos"

Many a good 'bo is mourning the passing of Steam Train. Count me in the ranks of those who were enriched by knowing him.

Art Thieme

Subject: RE: Obit: Steam Train Maury Graham 1917-2006
From: katlaughing
Date: 22 Nov 06 - 11:35 PM

Thanks for letting us know of another extraordinary person whom you have known, Art.

Here's an obit from HERE:

Maurice Graham, 89; `King of the Hobos' began his rambling as a teenager riding the rails
From Times Staff and Wire Reports
November 22, 2006

Maurice Graham, who began hitching rides on trains as a teenager and was known as the "King of the Hobos," died Saturday at a nursing home in Napoleon, Ohio, his family said. He was 89 and had recently suffered a stroke.

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

"What gets you hooked is the outdoors," Graham told a Times reporter in 1989. "A hobo is just a guy who went camping and never came home."

In 1990, Graham wrote "Tales of the Iron Road: My Life as King of the Hobos," telling his stories of hopping trains beginning at age 14 and living in hobo camps from the late 1960s until 1980.

"It used to be that a hobo had to be a good naturalist — he had to know all the roots, berries, grasses and weeds that are edible, and how to catch small game without weapons and how to be a good fisherman," Graham said in 1983, describing how the ramblers' carefree world had changed.

"But to survive as a hobo today, you practically have to be a pharmacist," Graham said. "They're hauling things in freight trains, like chemicals and pesticides, that weren't even invented five years ago."

Graham also made a distinction between hobos, who did odd jobs to support their vagabond lifestyle, and tramps and bums, who he said were only looking for handouts.

Graham was named National Hobo King five times at the annual hobo convention in Britt and was crowned Grand Patriarch of Hobos in 2004.

Graham, a Santa Claus look-alike with a flowing, white beard, was "a true hobo hero," foundation President Linda Hughes said.

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

When he wasn't riding the rails, Graham spent most of his settled-down life in Toledo, Ohio, working as a cement mason.

A native of Atchison, Kan., he was a medical technician during World War II.

His survivors include his wife of 69 years, Wanda, and two daughters.

A service will be held today in Toledo for Graham, who has caught the westbound train, as hobos say of their departed friends.

Here's another from here:


"Steam Train" Maury Graham Dies at 89 -- Elected King of the Hobos 5 Times

Nov 21, 2006 06:52 PM
"Steam Train" in 1994 at a charity event where he doubled as Santa Claus. Notice his ever-present walking stick.
"Steam Train" in 1994 at a charity event where he doubled as Santa Claus. Notice his ever-present walking stick.

TOLEDO -- Maury Graham -- an activist who helped many people in our area over the years -- passed away Saturday evening. People knew him as "Steam Train." We're told he suffered a stroke a couple of weeks ago and slipped into a coma. "Steam Train" died in Napoleon. He was 89.

When his book -- "Tales of the Iron Road: My Life As King of the Hobos" -- was released, Publishers Weekly wrote: "Starting in 1931 at age 14, Graham rode the rails until 1980. From a broken home, shunted from father to mother to aunt to married siblings, he found the family he had missed as a child in hobo camps across the country."

Graham stressed that he was a hobo, not a bum or a wino. He said that's a distinction sometimes lost on the public.

News 11 spoke Sunday with a longtime friend of the self-proclaimed hobo, to look back on the unique life "Steam Train" lived. Larry Latimore, also known as "Hippie Hobo," told us "Steam Train" was well-known throughout the hobo community, where he was affectionately called "King of the Hobos."

Latimore said, "You'll never meet a person like him again. When you have a friend like him and he leaves, it leaves a big void in your life."

According to Latimore, "Steam Train" didn't just pass away -- he "took the Westbound." As he explains it, "When a hobo catches the Westbound, he's not done at the end of the funeral service. His spirit goes off into the sunset, and you try to continue with his beliefs and philosphies."

Latimore was appointed the engineer for the Hobo Westbound by "Steam Train" over 12 years ago. Now he'll use the title as he carries on the tradition that defined Graham's life.

"The Hobo Westbound is a mythical thing," he says. "It's only amongst the hobos and people who know about their lore, but now you guys know about it -- so, to a degree, I've helped the hobos now."

Now that "Steam Train" has climbed aboard the Westbound one last time, his friends take comfort in knowing that the legacy of his life will continue to pick up steam.

Funeral services for "Steam Train" Maury Graham are to be held at Walter Funeral Home on Glendale Avenue in Toledo. Visitation is Tuesday from 2:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., with a funeral srvice set for Wednesday morning at 10:30.

Subject: RE: Obit: Steam Train Maury Graham 1917-2006
From: Mark Ross
Date: 23 Nov 06 - 09:26 AM

I met Steam Train 22 years ago at Britt. He liked my singing so much he insisted on dubbing me "MINSTREL TO THE ROYAL COURT OF HOBOES". He would have made me a Grand Duke, but he felt that since I hadn't spent 5 years on the rails I didn't qualify. He also gave me a walking stick with kudzu wrapped around it that he had made. I had a helluva time getting it back to Montana carrying it along with a guitar, a bindle, and water jug.

Frisco Jack(later also a King of the Hoboes)and I were singing Joe Hills' PREACHER AND THE SLAVE at the end of the parade, he being an old Wobbly, and Steam Train pitched a fit thinking that we were putting down the Salvation Army. A fine gent and true Knight of the Road. Hope his last ride on the Westbound will be gentle and that the mulligans always filled with meat, and the whiskey always 100 proof. Next year at Britt they will be telling those stories as they pour whiskey on Maury's grave.

Mark Ross

Subject: RE: Obit: Steam Train Maury Graham 1917-2006
From: GUEST,Art Thieme
Date: 23 Nov 06 - 12:03 PM

I just finished a column for the Plank Road Folklore Society's website. It's about meeting Maury Graham when he climbed off of a boxcar in downtown DeKalb, Illinois in the mid-1960s. He walked into the great little geeasy-spoon restaurant I was eating in and sat down next to me at the counter----where, after talking to him over coffee, I bought him his breakfast because I wanted the talk to go on.

There's a lot more to the column. It should get up there on the website pretty soon...

Art

Subject: RE: Obit: Steam Train Maury Graham 1917-2006
From: catspaw49
Date: 24 Nov 06 - 07:25 AM

Art, I was thinking of you last night when I read his obit in our local paper. This is the first time I've been online since and I'm not surprised this thread is already here. I'm looking forward to your column.

Spaw