“Tres Cartas de Zeta” in CON SAFOS, Number 6
Los Angeles: Con Safos, Inc., 1970. Wraps. The sixth issue of this important Chicano literary magazine, with three letters from Oscar “Zeta” Acosta, a Mexican-American lawyer who was immortalized as the heavyweight Samoan attorney, Dr. Gonzo, in Hunter S. Thompson’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1971). He also authored the novels Autobiography of a Brown Buffalo (1972) and The Revolt of the Cockroach People (1973) before his disappearance in 1974 during a trip to Mexico.
In the first of the three letters, Acosta confesses his embarrassing fascination with light-skinned women: “We know perfectly well that these colorless broads have not the blood of our mothers and sisters or even your cousin who is of la familia de raza which we struggle to place in history by the colorful designs of our own brown ancestors …But yet, it has not been you, mujer de Aztlan. Unfortunately, it has not yet been you!” The second letter relates his troubles as a lawyer working unpaid for the cause, while the third concerns the trial of Catolicos Por La Paz, a group arrested for disturbing a Christmas Eve mass.
Con Safos lasted eight issues. In addition to the Acosta piece, this issue includes the essay “Police State” by Gilbert Gonzalez, two poems by Maria Rocha, a cartoon by Sergio Hernandez, a book review of Stan Steiner’s La Raza: The Mexican Americans (1970), social commentary on Chicano pop art, and a Con Safos glossary. Standard magazine format (8 ¼” x 10 ½”): [52] p. including the wrappers. Original pictorial paper wrappers, bound with two staples. Near fine. Near fine. Item #75399
Price: $400.00