Otis Fennell, former owner of Faubourg Marigny Art and Books, died March 14 at Touro Hospital.
Fennell was born in Natchez, Mississippi, in 1947. He graduated from Brookhaven High School in Mississippi as valedictorian before attending Louisiana State University, where he served as President of his fraternity, PIKE. After earning an M.B.A. from L.S.U., he moved to New Orleans, where he became the youngest person to serve as the economic development director for the New Orleans Chamber of Commerce.
In 1973, Fennell married Betty Avery and had two daughters. The couple divorced in the early 1980s when Fennell came out as gay. The separation was amicable and the two remained best friends.
In 1983, Fennell played a role in the creation of the NO/AIDS Task Force (now known as Crescent Care) and eventually served on its Board of Directors. In 2003, he purchased the Faubourg Marigny bookstore on Frenchmen Street. Fennell owned the store until 2018, when his health began to decline. At that time, he sold the store to his longtime friend, David Zalkind. Even after the sale, Fennell could often be found holding court at the shop in the afternoons, thus continuing his legacy as “the Mayor of Frenchmen Street.”
In 2011, Fennell, along with Stewart Butler and Mark Gonzalez, founded “The Legacy Project,” a short-lived effort to preserve local queer history which morphed into the LGBT+ Archives Project of Louisiana, which is still active.
Fennell is survived by two daughters—Tiffany Teixidor of San Antonio, Texas, and Brit Schneeman of Los Angeles, California; four grandchildren—Reily, Luke, Mark, and Johnny; and three siblings—Sarah Overby, Robert Fennell, and James Fennell.
A Celebration of Life for Fennell is planned for April 20 at Frenchmen Art & Books (600 Frenchmen) at a time yet to be determined. A Jazz Funeral will follow to The Faerie Playhouse on Esplanade Ave., where Fennell’s cremains will be interred in the Memorial Garden.
