End Homelessness

Victim's Sister: "Homeless People Are Human"

by Shannon Moriarty

category: Hate Crimes

Published October 14, 2008 @ 05:06PM PT

(LA Times photo: "John McGraham was photographed by The Times for a story years ago. He was 52 at the time, and had been homeless for six years.")

John McGraham, a homeless man who lived on the streets of LA, was the victim of a horrific and senseless crime on Thursday. A memorial service was held for him on Sunday and attended by thousands.

The victim's sister wrote a moving letter to the LA Times. In it, she said the following:

I wish people better understood the mental turmoil a human being can go through that puts and keeps them in such a place that they can't seem to get out of.

And so, here's a bit more about John McGraham, published yesterday in the LA Times:

He was the second-youngest of six children, growing up in working-class Cypress Park. As a boy, he devoured superhero comic books and clasped a towel around his neck to channel Superman. He was a Star Trek fan who looked up to the dashing James T. Kirk.

His father was an alcoholic and abusive, and sister Sharon McGraham, 58, said her younger brother seemed to be the proverbial "lost child" of the large family. But their mother "used to say he was the good-hearted one," Sharon said.

In a strange way, McGraham's sensitivity seemed to bespeak of inner turmoil, his sisters said. Troubles that others could shake had a way of embedding themselves into his soul.

In the 1970s, when McGraham was in his early 20s, Sharon McGraham helped him get a job at the Biltmore Hotel; McGraham later took a job as a bellhop at the Ambassador Hotel, where he was a well-regarded employee.

He fell in love, but the romance did not work out, and McGraham became depressed and lost his job. Sharon got him to see a therapist, which helped at first, but when the therapist took a monthlong vacation, her brother became utterly lost, she said.

The story continues: 

Susanne, the only sibling still living in Southern California, would buy him batteries for his radio, and a new radio when his wore out. He liked jazz and talk radio, and he loved Johnny Cash. At Thanksgiving and Christmas, other relatives would pile into a van to visit McGraham.

Sharon, believing her brother was finally willing to accept help, was researching programs that could take him in.

But he never got the chance.

If you want to read more, take a look at Joel John Roberts' moving op-ed piece in today's LA Times.