Seattle's Tuba Man is Dead

Seraphina just returned from Seattle.  Relatives there told her the sad story of "Tuba Man."  How cool!  How sad...

Seattle knew Edward McMichael by sight or sound, the bespectacled guy with the wispy beard and floppy Uncle Sam and Dr. Seuss hats. For decades he breathed life into his shiny brass instrument, outside city sports venues. On Oct. 25, police say, McMichael, 53, was near a bus stop in the 500 block of Mercer Street when thugs attacked, beating and robbing him after midnight. He was taken to the hospital for head wounds and was home recovering. But he died sometime Sunday or early Monday. "We believe his death was directly connected to the assault," Seattle police spokesman Sean Whitcomb told me Monday night. Gang and homicide detectives were handling the case. Two juvenile suspects were in custody, and detectives are looking for three other people. "This is tragic," Whitcomb said. Police are seeking the public's help.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/jamieson/386267_robert04xx.html