in addition there are : gramma helouise , `` beau 's '' gramma ; dame gretchley , a character/minister with brown hair , blue eyes , a viet/korean face , and a bulldog mentaility ; thomas dalieken , an italian , sympatico to the severely impressed and others ; mabel `` school '' jones , a nice middle-aged plump auteuse who writes history novels `` pretty good , for a boat-owner , '' also tending bar : dave velasquez velasquez , a handsome young hispanic man , `` dead '' at 29 , temporary prince of the air ; and one fred , of wabash , wa , whose major life 's goals are to merely walk and drive fast again-and to eat rocky road .