 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Street musician's tunes again echo downtown
By JON WILSON, Times Staff Writer ST. PETERSBURG -- Once he sang for the love of it. Now he says he does it to survive. Eddie Maultsby Jr., one of the last blind street musicians, is a familiar, guitar-strumming Central Avenue figure. For 15 years, he played and sang on the sidewalk in front of a downtown five-and-dime. When McCrory's closed in January 1999, Maultsby retired, too. He returned a few weeks ago to play in front of the store at 425 Central Ave. A need to get out of debt brought him back, Maultsby said, and the $20 or $30 pedestrians drop in his basket supplements his monthly disability check. Maultsby, 39, has been blind since age 11. Sarcoidosis, a disease that opens skin lesions, took his sight. He can see light to some degree and needs help walking. At 5 feet 1 and about 100 pounds, Maultsby is frail, but he still maintains a strong baritone. "I'm doing it for the money," Maultsby said late last week. "Before, I was doing it for the love. When I retired, I gave up downtown. Don't get me wrong, I still love to sing. But I came back downtown because I had to." Longtime girlfriend Ramona Berrian shares a house Maultsby rented, but the pair's financial situation got tighter when Berrian was laid off. Last week, Maultsby wore a Santa Claus cap as he sang a few holiday songs mixed with the pop and rhythm-and-blues he usually belts out. "My job is to make smiles for other people. To make other people happy," he said. His energy hasn't waned. His guitar has no pick guard, and Maultsby's strumming has chipped out a big white gash on the instrument's sound board. He seems to be the same old Eddie to passersby, although he is dealing with a huge loss. His mother, Mabel R. Manley, a frequently honored Pinellas County schoolteacher, died at age 60 of liver cancer in October 2000. She was part of Maultsby's support system, both emotionally and, when needed, financially. "It hasn't been easy the last couple years," Maultsby said. Still, there are bright spots. His stepfather has offered him a computer. He's hoping to get some software that will let the computer literally talk to him. And he looks forward to using it to record some CDs. Many of the people who used to visit before he left Central remember him and are still dropping by and dropping a dollar or two, Maultsby said. "And I've got some new fans, too." He wonders about one old fan in particular, a woman named Mary Lyons. He hasn't seen her since he returned to his old spot. "She was like a godmother to me. Every day when I was here, she would come up and give a dollar and buy me a Powerade," Maultsby said. "I even knew her birthday: April 23. I'd call her and she'd say, "I'm feeling fine for 49,' but I think she was actually in her 70s." Porter Brown, a childhood friend, drops off Maultsby on Central three days a week, and he usually takes a cab home. "Singing all day, when I go home, I'm tired, I'm beat. I have a great voice, but I can't do it on a daily basis," Maultsby said. He's not certain how long he'll keep playing. "If I can get out of this little debt ... "I'm all business now."
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 
|
From the Times South Pinellas desks |
