Earl Grayson is a "grizzled" old man who finds Maniac at the zoo. Grayson takes Maniac to the band shell and feeds and clothes him. As Grayson and Maniac get to know each other, a devoted friendship develops between them. Grayson tells Maniac stories of having been a pitcher for a minor league baseball team and gives maniac his old baseball glove for Christmas. Grayson is embarrassed when he admits to Maniac that he is illiterate — he can't read or write. Because he trusts Maniac, he asks Maniac to teach him to read.
Grayson is also a character who is ignorant about black people. He asks Maniac questions about the Beales, and when Maniac tells him that, "they're just regular people like us," Grayson responds, in disbelief, "ain't that somethin'. . . ."
After Grayson reads his first book cover to cover, Maniac hugs him. Grayson feels "unburdened for the first time in thirty-seven years. . . ." He feels loved by Maniac, as a son would love his father.
Grayson and Maniac are two misfits who, as fate would have it, find each other. They bring out the best in each other and, due to the nurturing each provides the other, they shine and are happy with the nontraditional family they create. Grayson dies a happy man.
