Cheese Deluxe: Mercer Island in the 60s

A few months ago I heard about a book called Cheese Deluxe, a memoir of living on Mercer Island as a teenager in the 60s.

For having bought a book based solely on the setting, I got lucky. Greg Palmer, the author, creates a cast of characters (many of whom he says are based on real people) and follows them through a series of loosely-connected stories. That’s probably a better way of expressing high school life than presenting a tight story arc. Palmer isn’t afraid of poking some taboos now and then, like in the first chapter when he describes a Boy of the Month nomination that was aborted over a misunderstanding of fairies.

Island Books apparently had the author in the store back in December, but I missed it. There’s a nice video in the MI Reporter article of Greg reading from the book. Of the people on whom the characters were based, “a few are here tonight.”

It’s worth reading, even if unlike me you aren’t hung on on wondering what places looked like in past decades. You can get it on Amazon.

We Need an Independent Coffee Shop on Mercer Island

We’ve got an independent bookstore, why not an independent coffee shop? There’s two Starbucks’ and a Tully’s on the Island– both local companies. But not independent.

Here’s some commentary on buying local from Island Books:

From the bookstore you can go to Cellar 46, but apparently you can’t go back.

It should be in North Island, maybe in Mercerdale. It should be cozy, with a fireplace. It should have much better food than either Tully’s or the Buck.

How about a bakery/ coffee shop with quiches, ham and cheese croissants and homemade soups?

Delicious croissant, please come to Mercer Island. Credit: junstine.foong, flickr.

For any entrepreneur thinking of starting one, here’s the case for doing it in a recession: people spend more time in coffee shops when work hours are reduced. My friend, a tech contractor, works several days a week in a coffee shop and has for years. Now he has trouble getting a table anyplace.

Imagine, during our latest snowstorm: walking up to North Island, into a cozy coffee shop with a fireplace and some newspapers (I know Starbucks on N. Island has a fireplace). A local gathering place with its own character, in the great Seattle tradition of great coffee shops.

An Americano some local chatter, please. Photo credit: Henry Bonell on Flickr.

Snow! And Other Notes on the Island

First snow of the year!

Well, snow two days ago and expected again in two days. Richard Sprague has a nice snow pic too.

And a few notes from around the web on Mercer Island:

A shout-out on Cellar 46 from the P-I. Haven’t been there yet myself but I’d like to go. “On Mercer Island we have Cellar 46 which offers live music, small plates and places to sit including a bar and tables. It has a cozy neighborhood vibe.”

And a shout-out from a very pink, delightfully stream-of-conscienseness reading blog about Island Books. She’s right- we’re lucky to have a great independent bookstore. Buy books there for the holidays.

The Disasters of the Ferry Dawn

The other night we watched Dawn on the Island, a video about the history of Mercer Island. Mostly it had interviews of people who had grown up on the Island. My favorite story was of the kids who took the Ferry Dawn across Lake Washington to Leschi every morning to go to school. The ferry sank twice, and a seaplane collided with it once, according to Wikipedia.

The former students seemed to take the sinkings in stride. Sometime after those mishaps, when the ferry was considered too unsafe- and it would be fascinating to know what impending disaster they expected, that had not already happened- the ferry was sunk off the southern coast of Mercer Island. If you know exactly where it is, please leave a comment, I want to know.

I couldn’t find much about the video online except this ad from the Mercer Island Historical Society.

I picked up Dawn on the Island at Island Books. I like this bookstore, which despite its location in a strip mall is a great bookstore that reminded me of Bailey Coy on Broadway in Capitol Hill and Elliott Bay Books in Pioneer Square.

Amidst the reminisces of former Mercer Island Youth, there was some overview of the history of the Island. Luther Burbank Park was featured prominently. But the video assumed a good knowledge of what happened when on Mercer Island: when the bridge was built, when development got serious, when the ferries stopped running. There was a sketch of that, but I needed more grounding in the history.

Watch it, if you get a chance. And let me know where the Dawn is.