Mermaid

with my parents as chaperons. Good thing, I’m sure. She’s as fun in person as you imagine (or more if you don’t imagine she’s fun)!

Though, I must honestly report, it’s not always good to put two “it’s all about me” people in the same room.

It was a blast. Thanks, Dawn, for joining my parents and me for lunch (well, you had already had lunch) ... Iced tea.

From DailyBreeze.com

Originally published Saturday, July 28, 2007

Patrons chalk up memories of gruff longtime owner of the restaurant.

A memorial for Quentin L. “Boots” Thelen, a former mayor, is set for Tuesday at 6 p.m. at the restaurant.

By Josh Grossberg, Staff Writer

The regulars at the Mermaid restaurant in Hermosa Beach have known each other for so long that they joke about a small blackboard above the bar where they put the name of a patron who has died.

“The first thing you do is look to see if your name is up there,” said Diana Albergate, whose stepfather, Boots Thelen, opened the eatery in 1954.

This week, it’s Thelen’s name that adorns the small sign. And the stool where he sat working on crossword puzzles every day remains empty.

(added to the story)

Quentin L. “Boots” Thelen, who not only ran one of the South Bay’s best-known restaurants, but also served as mayor of Hermosa Beach during a period of great change, died Tuesday of cancer. He was 85.

Born Aug. 18, 1921, in Faulkton, S.D., Thelen served as a pilot during World War II.

“He was a small-town, poor farm boy,” Albergate said. “He got off the farm and fought the war and won it.”

He took a series of jobs, including a stint at the Mermaid.

The original location burned down in 1951 and Thelen purchased the rebuilt restaurant three years later.

“He operated it 365 days a year,” Albergate said. “He worked every day.”

When friends talk about him, words like “crusty” and “character” are never far from their lips. He could be moody and quiet, sitting at his stool working on his puzzles. But he also attracted loyalties that lasted for generations.

“He was a grumpy old sumbitch,” Steve Black said Friday sitting at the bar.

“But he had a heart of gold,” quickly added Skip Aiken, who has been visiting the Mermaid for 50years.