“Brew One O Two”
by Randall "Ted" Berkeley
It was in the early 40’s and I had many many good friends on the beach, but the one who impressed me the most was a lovable old guy in the house adjacent to ours. He was a splendidly-built man of about 66 or 68, a real athletic type of fellow.
When I surfed in the large swells, he would sometimes join me in a canoe and how he did it I’ll never know. He rode it just like a surfboard.
This man owned the first baseball club in Los Angeles, the Vernon Ball Club. He was the greatest backer and sponsor of youth athletics.
It was customary for this old guy to take his constitutional run on the beach each night before retiring.
One tragic Sunday night after he had entertained some guests for dinner he took his nightly run down the beach at about 11 p.m. Having run his distance he turned around and started back—to behold before his eyes, his beach house afire. He had apparently left the guard off the fireplace and a spark had ignited the furnishings.
No one knows to this day why he ran as fast as he could into the house and into the bathroom—perhaps to retrieve something valuable.
I had an early call for the next morning so we retired early on this Sunday night. I guess I had slept for an hour or so when Syl shook me violently and screamed that the house was on fire. I looked at the room and it did look as though the house was on fire. The reflection of the fire was all over the walls.
I bounded out of bed and ran next door. It was a sight I shall never forget. By now the siding was burning through and the interior was exposed and there before my eyes, on the bathroom floor, lay my beautiful friend.
His name was Eddie Meier of the Meier Brewing Co. in Los Angeles, and I can’t help thinking of him when I see a billboard or advertisement that says, “BREW ONE O TWO.”
