Downtown Poet-Broker Ed Rosenthal Reported Missing

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — Poet-broker Ed Rosenthal, a figure in the Downtown arts and real estate communities, is missing after failing to return from a weekend hike in Joshua Tree National Park.

According to a report that first appeared in the Los Angeles Business Journal, Rosenthal was reported missing Sunday evening after his car was found at the park's Black Rock campground. The L.A. Times reports that Rosenthal was last seen Friday. Rosenthal has brokered a number of large deals Downtown, but is best known for his poetry about the neighborhood.

If it wasn't for Ed Rosentahl and his poetry, Tom Gilmore wouldn't have gotten an extension to close the first properties in the Old Bank District and Downtown would be a very different place today. Much of what Downtown has become is a result of Ed's hard work and we all owe him a deep debt of gratitude.  My prayers and thoughts are with him, his family and his many friends.