Remembering Brentwood’s street poet Wendell Brown with fundraising effort

A small committee of volunteers is exploring how to best honor Brentwood’s beloved “homeless poet,” Wendell Brown. Brown died last month of a heart attack at age 69. He had been in declining health for some time.

Some ideas under consideration: putting a bench at “Wendell’s Corner” with a statue of Wendell sitting on the bench, holding up a “poems for sale” sign; putting a plaque on the wall nearby; having a bench with no statue but etching the words of one (or more) of Wendell’s poems into the bench; publishing a book of Wendell’s poems; writing a poem about Wendell; and/or some combination of the above.

No final decisions have been made yet and a fundraising effort is now getting started. Casting a statue, in particular, would be expensive.

Members of the public are invited to gather Sunday, Nov. 9, at 1 pm on the median strip between “Wendell’s Corner” in front of Comerica Bank on the north side of San Vicente and Brentwood Presbyterian Church on the south side (catty corner from Vicente Foods).

At that time, Wendell will be honored with words from those who knew him well. It’s likely plans for a permanent marker will be finalized by then.

To get on an emailing list to stay informed about this effort, send an email with “Wendell” in the subject line to: info@brentwoodcommunitycouncil.org.

To make a financial contribution, write a check to: “Brentwood 90049 for Wendell” and mail it to: Brentwood 90049, 149 So. Barrington Ave., Box 194, Los Angeles, CA 90049.