In Maniac Magee, what did Grayson mean to Maniac?

Grayson was very important to Maniac, because he was like family.

Grayson found Maniac when he was at a low point. Maniac had run away again, this time from the Beales. He loved the Beales like family, but they were black and he was white. It made people uncomfortable for him to be living with them. Maniac left to protect them.

Maniac ended up at the buffalo pen, and that is where Grayson found him....

Grayson was very important to Maniac, because he was like family.

Grayson found Maniac when he was at a low point. Maniac had run away again, this time from the Beales. He loved the Beales like family, but they were black and he was white. It made people uncomfortable for him to be living with them. Maniac left to protect them.

Maniac ended up at the buffalo pen, and that is where Grayson found him. Grayson was the groundskeeper at the zoo. He was an old man who was very kind to Maniac. He immediately took him home, cleaned him up, fed him, and bought him new clothes.

At this point, Maniac wanted a family and a place to belong more than ever. Grayson provided that for him. He did not insist that Maniac go to school, because Maniac said he would run away. He did as much as he could for Maniac.

From then on Maniac was on the job with Grayson every afternoon. They raised fences, mended fences, hauled stone, patched asphalt, painted, trimmed trees. They ate breakfast, lunch, and dinner together, sometimes in the equipment room, sometimes at a restaurant. They spent weekends together. (Ch. 25)

Maniac taught Grayson to read, and the old man gave Maniac a home. When Grayson died, it was a devastating loss for Maniac again. He had lost his parents and the Beales, and now he lost his latest family. Even though Grayson was old, Maniac was not expecting his death. It left him with no place to go, once again.

Maniac drifted from hour to hour, day to day, alone with his memories, a stunned and solitary wanderer. He ate only to keep from starving, warmed his body only enough to keep it from freezing to death, ran only because there was no reason to stop. (Ch. 33)

Eventually, Maniac returned to the Beales. They were his true family. He belonged there regardless of race. With the Beales, he could be “nothing but Jeffrey.” Maniac missed Grayson terribly, but was happy to have a normal home again.