Oscar Zeta Acosta
Oscar Zeta Acosta | |
---|---|
Born | Oscar Acosta Fierro[1] April 8, 1935 |
Disappeared | May 27, 1974 Mazatlán, Sinaloa, Mexico[2] | (aged 39)
Status | Missing for 49 years, 10 months and 28 days |
Education | San Francisco State University (BA) San Francisco Law School (JD) |
Occupation(s) | Attorney, author, activist |
Known for | Activism, friendship with Hunter S. Thompson |
Notable work | Autobiography of a Brown Buffalo The Revolt of the Cockroach People |
Movement | Chicano Movement |
Oscar "Zeta" Acosta Fierro (
Life and career
Oscar Acosta was born in El Paso, Texas, to Manuel and Juanita (née Fierro) Acosta, from Mexico and El Paso, respectively. He was the third child born, but second to survive childhood. Acosta had an older brother, Roberto, born in 1934.[1] After the family moved to California, the children were raised in the small San Joaquin Valley rural community of Riverbank, near Modesto.[2][3] Acosta's father was drafted during World War II.
After finishing high school, Acosta joined the
In 1968, Acosta moved to
In 1972, Acosta published his first novel,
Friendship with Hunter S. Thompson
In the summer of 1967, Acosta met author
The legal department of the publisher of Fear and Loathing said the book could not be published without clearance by Acosta, as references to him were recognizable. Acosta initially refused the clearance, saying that he was insulted by Thompson's alteration of his race—Thompson had described him as a "300-pound
Scholar David S. Wills, in High White Notes: The Rise and Fall of Gonzo Journalism, argued that it was Acosta who pushed Thompson to pursue the theme of the American Dream and indeed provided much of the plot of the novel through his actions in Las Vegas.[8] He asserts that this is likely the reason why Acosta felt so aggrieved, citing various letters and audio recordings of the two men. Acosta even complained to one of Thompson's editors, "Hunter has stolen my soul. He has taken my best lines and has used me."[9]
Although Thompson and Acosta attempted to work together one more time, their relationship was strained by the dispute over Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and it never fully recovered. After Acosta's death, it took Thompson several years before he wrote an obituary for his friend, "The Banshee Screams for Buffalo Meat". In it, Thompson called Acosta "a stupid, vicious quack with no morals at all and the soul of a hammerhead shark."[10] Ralph Steadman explained that Thompson "berated most of his friends a lot, but somehow it was funny. His way of expressing love for people was to be both angry and insulting."[11]
Disappearance
In May 1974, Acosta disappeared while traveling in Mazatlán, Sinaloa, Mexico.[2][4] His son, Marco Acosta, believes that he was the last person to talk to his father. Acosta telephoned his son from Mazatlán, telling him that he was "about to board a boat full of white snow." Marco is later quoted in reference to his father's disappearance: "The body was never found, but we surmise that probably, knowing the people he was involved with, he ended up mouthing off, getting into a fight, and getting killed."[12]
In 1977, Thompson's investigation of Acosta's disappearance, titled "The Banshee Screams for Buffalo Meat", was published in Rolling Stone.
Motion pictures
The film Where the Buffalo Roam (1980) loosely depicts Acosta's life and his relationship with Thompson. Its name is derived from Thompson's article about Acosta, "The Banshee Screams for Buffalo Meat", in reference to Acosta's book Autobiography of a Brown Buffalo. Actor Peter Boyle portrayed Acosta, whose character is named "Carl Lazlo, Esquire",[14] and Bill Murray portrayed Thompson.
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998) is a film adaptation of Thompson's 1972 novel of the same name, a fictionalized account of Thompson and Acosta's trip to Las Vegas in 1971. Benicio del Toro portrays Acosta,[15] referred to in the film and novel as "Dr. Gonzo", while Johnny Depp portrays Thompson (under the alias of Raoul Duke).
The Rise and Fall of the Brown Buffalo (2017) is a documentary[16] of the life and career of Acosta, with dramatic reenactments. The documentary[17] was directed by Phillip Rodriguez and produced by Benicio del Toro.[18]
See also
References
- ^ a b "Birth certificate of Oscar Acosta". Texas State Department of Health. 8 April 1935. Archived from the original on 2015-04-06. Retrieved 2015-03-26.
- ^ a b c d e Doss, Yvette C. (June 5, 1998). "The Lost Legend of the Real Dr. Gonzo". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
- ^ a b c "Guide to the Oscar Zeta Acosta PapersCEMA 1". California Digital Library. Archived from the original on 2018-05-31. Retrieved 2014-08-20.
- ^ ISBN 9781438107851. Archivedfrom the original on 9 December 2020. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
- ^ "Top 10 Famous Disappearances: Oscar Zeta Ocasta". Time Magazine. 3 October 2008. Archived from the original on 27 March 2015. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
- ^ "Oscar Acosta – #38731". State Bar of California. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
- ^ Peter Richardson, "Strange Rumblings: The Prickly but Productive Friendship Between Hunter Thompson and Oscar Acosta," Los Angeles Review of Books, Nov. 21, 2021.
- OCLC 1324995493.
- OCLC 1324995493.
- OCLC 892937797.
- OCLC 1305380444.
- ^ "Shermakaye Bass". Archived from the original on 2012-09-20. Retrieved 2009-01-18.
- ^ Thompson, Hunter S. (December 15, 1977). "The Banshee Screams For Buffalo Meat". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 12 July 2012. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
- ^ Moorhead, Jim (April 28, 1980). "It Gets Rather Messy 'Where Buffalo Roam'". The Evening Independent. Archived from the original on December 9, 2020. Retrieved September 23, 2018.
- ^ Olsen, Mark (December 11, 2008). "A rebel force". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on July 5, 2009. Retrieved February 22, 2012.
- ^ "Welcome". City Projects Presents. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 31 May 2018.
- ^ "The Rise and Fall of the Brown Buffalo". IMDb.com. 31 May 2018. Archived from the original on 15 November 2019. Retrieved 31 May 2018.
- ^ "Documentary on 'Dr. Gonzo' captures Oscar Zeta Acosta's wild ride". NBC News. March 23, 2018. Archived from the original on October 29, 2018. Retrieved November 19, 2018.
Further reading
- ISBN 0-679-72213-0(Random House)
- ISBN 0-679-72212-2(Knopf)
- Oscar "Zeta" Acosta: the uncollected works. Ilan Stavans, editor. (1996) (Arte Público Press)
- Hospitable Imaginations: Contemporary Latino/a Literature and the Pursuit of a Readership, a dissertation on Oscar "Zeta" Acosta within the context of Gloria Anzaldúa, Piri Thomas, Giannina Braschi, Sandra Cisneros, Junot Díaz, and Gilbert Hernandez. Christopher Thomas Gonzalez (2012), OhioLink.
- "Thompson's and Acosta's Collaborative Creation of the Gonzo Narrative Style", Shimberlee Jirón-King. Comparative Literature and Culture, Vol 10, Issue 1, Purdue University, 2008.
- ISBN 0-345-37482-7