Helping Charlie Brown

I hate to report bad news here, but I think it is important.

For those who remember and know Charlie Brown, I thought you might be interested to know that Charlie was hit in the head and face with bricks by a couple of kids early one morning about three weeks ago just outside of the Barnacle on Main Hwy and Commodore Plaza. They still haven't caught the kids.

Charlie is a Coconut Grove curmudgeon. He hails from Memphis and was boyhood friends with Elvis Presley. He came to Miami in the '60s and opened the old Gaslight South in the Grove. Joni Mitchell, David Crosby and others of that era wandered through the place before they were well known. Charlie gave up the bar business and became a writer of merit. He worked for Jack King and the old Coconut Grover among other publications, and was a columnist on the old Biscayne Bay Tribune. He was a regular at the Taurus and is something of a well-known Grovite.

He is in the hospital, but when he recuperates, he will need a place to live. Deborah Crisp is collecting funds, like they used to do at The Taurus, for needy friends. Also, if anyone knows of a little place somewhere in the Grove, to please let Deborah know. If you would like to contribute, please make checks payable to CHARLES ELMORE, -- his legal name, and send in care of, Deborah Crisp, at 3109 McDonald St., Coconut Grove, FL 33133. Here phone number is 305-567-9802. Be aware, that the checks will not be cashed for awhile, until they determine what Charlie needs, and where they can be deposited.

Charlie had 13 hours of surgery done on his face and skull last Saturday. He is very depleted, weak, and gaunt. He sleeps most of the time, but he is communicative, though difficult to understand. There was some injury to his brain, which may or may not resolve itself. It's a wait-and-see situation.

Charlie NOW CAN have visitors. He is in the Ryder Trauma Building, room 394. The nurses' station is 305-585-1233, and should be called to confirm Charlie's location and visiting hours.

Deborah has been to see him every couple of days. Many people had cards returned, perhaps because he has been moved five times since he got there, and his last name is Elmore, not Brown. However, there were flowers by his bed today from Linda Murphy, who obviously found him. People can send cards to Deborah, and she can bring them along when she visits.