darvocet21
Bluelighter
- Joined
- May 31, 2021
- Messages
- 25,756
"Wisdom should be freely available to all men without smart-alecky impediments"
-O.Z.A. Revolt of the Cockroach People
So here's the deal:
Why haven't more people heard of this man? of course many have...
as Dr. Gonzo from the book Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas... brilliantly portrayed by Benicio del Toro... but who really had known or remembered him by the time the movie was finally being made... over 25 years since Acosta vanished off the face of the Earth.
"Too weird to live, and too rare to die."
Although a paid advisor on the film, Hunter S Thompson was more interested they get the look and feel right. He wasn't consulted about the script.
Apart from his book which heavily obscured the identity and real-life achievements of his "Samoan" lawyer, Thompson said little about his friend publicly. Three years after his disappearance in 1974 at the age of 39, Rolling Stone published Thompson's piece entitled "The Banshee Screams for Buffalo Meat", in which he stated his belief that Acosta was either murdered by drug dealers or was the victim of a political assassination.
Both equally plausible.
Another possibility exists. That Acosta saw the writing on the wall and orchestrated his own disappearance. A key figure in the Chicano civil rights movement he may have feared becoming the next Fred Hampton, Martin Luther King jr., or Rubén Salazar, an LA Times reporter who wrote sympathetically about the "Brown power" movement before he was killed when a tear gas canister fired by police struck him in the head... Without admitting responsibility the LAPD and city agreed to an undisclosed financial settlement with his family.
Acosta was well-known by law enforcement and throughout the criminal-justice system. He regularly defended activists charged with criminal offenses, pro bono. But he was earning something: a reputation as a troublemaker for his unconventional, sometimes brilliant tactics. Once he subpoenaed every member of a grand jury he claimed were biased against his clients and unable to render an impartial verdict. He was overruled by the judge.
(Participating in a demonstration in Los Angeles circa 1970)
In 1970 Acosta challenged long-term incumbent Peter Pritchess for LA County Sheriff and received more than 100,000 votes despite being jailed during the campaign for contempt of court, coming second ahead of the police chief of Monterey Park. (Also in 1970 Hunter Thompson ran his "Freak Power" campaign for Sheriff of Pitkin County, CO.)
Acosta's profile continued to grow with the publication of Autobiography of a Brown Buffalo (1972) and The Revolt of the Cockroach People (1973) ... books which owe their existence to Acosta's unhappiness with Thompson's portrayal of their recent trip in the pages of Rolling Stone magazine, where his identity had morphed from celebrated Civil Rights Attorney to 300lb Samoan. He was even more pissed that he"d received zero creative credit or compensation. He threatened to bring suit to block publication of the book or at least tie it up for years if not decades, claiming defamation of character while demanding royalties for his extensive creative contributions... finally agreeing to a settlement that included a two-book publishing deal with near total artistic freedom in exchange for allowing Thompson's book to be released without major revisions. Its unknown if he received royalties (the exact settlement details were never made public).
He had other reasons why starting fresh may have seemed an attractive option. His second marriage had collapsed. He all but stopped practicing law. His legendary appetite for drugs may have been the only aspect Thompson didn't need to exaggerate. He had a seemingly unquenchable appetite for amphetamines and a fearless love affair with psychedelics.
The last person believed to have spoken to Acosta before he went missing was his son, Marco Acosta, who said he received a brief phone call from his father saying he was in Mazatlán, Sinaloa "about to board a boat full of white snow."
Some time later Marco stated: "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."
No official investigation was ever conducted by authorities of either Mexico or the United States.
Several recent books, articles and a documentary show Acosta as a far more complex and nuanced individual than portrayed in popular culture.
Born in El Paso in 1935, his family moved to Riverbank in California's San Joaquin Valley. When he was eight his father was drafted leaving Oscar with immense family responsibilities, a situation not helped by his mother's mental illness. By his own account he and his siblings were subjected to regular beatings and psychological abuse.
In high school he played varsity football and was elected class president. But when he was found sleeping at his girlfriend's house after being expressly forbidden to visit her there, police were called and he was given a choice: enlist or go to jail.
He served in the Air Force & was stationed for much of his enlistment in Panama, at a base notorious for having some of the highest rates of sexually transmitted diseases contracted by servicemen.
Acosta however became a Baptist lay minister, preaching to the poor of Panama's slums when not on duty. His son Marco later recollected how during his youth it was not uncommon when guests were visiting for his father to stand at the head of the living room and deliver sermons of startling emotional impact despite of the fact they were usually fueled by large amounts of booze.
After an honorable discharge Acosta became the first member of his family to attend and graduate college, working his way through Modesto Junior College before transferring to San Francisco State University where he majored in creative writing. Followed by attendance at night school to study law in preparation for taking the bar exam; upon being admitted to the bar he was hired by an anti-poverty nonprofit legal organization in the Bay Area. He soon found his bilingualism and understanding of the problems facing Mexican-Americans and immigrants were sorely needed and he moved to Los Angeles to focus his law practice on those underserved communities... placing himself at ground zero of an emerging Chicano civil rights movement.
,
(Publicity photo for book Revolt of the Cockroach People by Annie Liebowitz)
If still living Oscar Acosta would have turned 86 in April 2021
...with second wife Socorro Acosta
-O.Z.A. Revolt of the Cockroach People
So here's the deal:
Why haven't more people heard of this man? of course many have...
as Dr. Gonzo from the book Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas... brilliantly portrayed by Benicio del Toro... but who really had known or remembered him by the time the movie was finally being made... over 25 years since Acosta vanished off the face of the Earth.
"Too weird to live, and too rare to die."
Although a paid advisor on the film, Hunter S Thompson was more interested they get the look and feel right. He wasn't consulted about the script.
Apart from his book which heavily obscured the identity and real-life achievements of his "Samoan" lawyer, Thompson said little about his friend publicly. Three years after his disappearance in 1974 at the age of 39, Rolling Stone published Thompson's piece entitled "The Banshee Screams for Buffalo Meat", in which he stated his belief that Acosta was either murdered by drug dealers or was the victim of a political assassination.
Both equally plausible.
Another possibility exists. That Acosta saw the writing on the wall and orchestrated his own disappearance. A key figure in the Chicano civil rights movement he may have feared becoming the next Fred Hampton, Martin Luther King jr., or Rubén Salazar, an LA Times reporter who wrote sympathetically about the "Brown power" movement before he was killed when a tear gas canister fired by police struck him in the head... Without admitting responsibility the LAPD and city agreed to an undisclosed financial settlement with his family.
Acosta was well-known by law enforcement and throughout the criminal-justice system. He regularly defended activists charged with criminal offenses, pro bono. But he was earning something: a reputation as a troublemaker for his unconventional, sometimes brilliant tactics. Once he subpoenaed every member of a grand jury he claimed were biased against his clients and unable to render an impartial verdict. He was overruled by the judge.
(Participating in a demonstration in Los Angeles circa 1970)
In 1970 Acosta challenged long-term incumbent Peter Pritchess for LA County Sheriff and received more than 100,000 votes despite being jailed during the campaign for contempt of court, coming second ahead of the police chief of Monterey Park. (Also in 1970 Hunter Thompson ran his "Freak Power" campaign for Sheriff of Pitkin County, CO.)
Acosta's profile continued to grow with the publication of Autobiography of a Brown Buffalo (1972) and The Revolt of the Cockroach People (1973) ... books which owe their existence to Acosta's unhappiness with Thompson's portrayal of their recent trip in the pages of Rolling Stone magazine, where his identity had morphed from celebrated Civil Rights Attorney to 300lb Samoan. He was even more pissed that he"d received zero creative credit or compensation. He threatened to bring suit to block publication of the book or at least tie it up for years if not decades, claiming defamation of character while demanding royalties for his extensive creative contributions... finally agreeing to a settlement that included a two-book publishing deal with near total artistic freedom in exchange for allowing Thompson's book to be released without major revisions. Its unknown if he received royalties (the exact settlement details were never made public).
He had other reasons why starting fresh may have seemed an attractive option. His second marriage had collapsed. He all but stopped practicing law. His legendary appetite for drugs may have been the only aspect Thompson didn't need to exaggerate. He had a seemingly unquenchable appetite for amphetamines and a fearless love affair with psychedelics.
The last person believed to have spoken to Acosta before he went missing was his son, Marco Acosta, who said he received a brief phone call from his father saying he was in Mazatlán, Sinaloa "about to board a boat full of white snow."
Some time later Marco stated: "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."
No official investigation was ever conducted by authorities of either Mexico or the United States.
Several recent books, articles and a documentary show Acosta as a far more complex and nuanced individual than portrayed in popular culture.
Born in El Paso in 1935, his family moved to Riverbank in California's San Joaquin Valley. When he was eight his father was drafted leaving Oscar with immense family responsibilities, a situation not helped by his mother's mental illness. By his own account he and his siblings were subjected to regular beatings and psychological abuse.
In high school he played varsity football and was elected class president. But when he was found sleeping at his girlfriend's house after being expressly forbidden to visit her there, police were called and he was given a choice: enlist or go to jail.
He served in the Air Force & was stationed for much of his enlistment in Panama, at a base notorious for having some of the highest rates of sexually transmitted diseases contracted by servicemen.
Acosta however became a Baptist lay minister, preaching to the poor of Panama's slums when not on duty. His son Marco later recollected how during his youth it was not uncommon when guests were visiting for his father to stand at the head of the living room and deliver sermons of startling emotional impact despite of the fact they were usually fueled by large amounts of booze.
After an honorable discharge Acosta became the first member of his family to attend and graduate college, working his way through Modesto Junior College before transferring to San Francisco State University where he majored in creative writing. Followed by attendance at night school to study law in preparation for taking the bar exam; upon being admitted to the bar he was hired by an anti-poverty nonprofit legal organization in the Bay Area. He soon found his bilingualism and understanding of the problems facing Mexican-Americans and immigrants were sorely needed and he moved to Los Angeles to focus his law practice on those underserved communities... placing himself at ground zero of an emerging Chicano civil rights movement.
,
(Publicity photo for book Revolt of the Cockroach People by Annie Liebowitz)
If still living Oscar Acosta would have turned 86 in April 2021
...with second wife Socorro Acosta
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