American Folk Figure. He was immortalized in  gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson’s novel, “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas”, in which Thompson used him as the model for his “Samoan” attorney character. Born in El Paso, Texas, he served in the United States Air Force, and had a a brief stint as a missionary in a leper colony. He studied law and came to national prominence as an attorney and political activist during the Chicano uprisings of Los Angeles, California in the 1960s. He also worked in a legal aid office for the poor, and although many people came to admire him for his sense of social justice, his work made him a number of enemies as well. Last heard from in the 1970s, he  disappeared off the coast of Mazatlan, Mexico in 1974, and is thought to be the possible victim of an assassination. His health was also in decline, which could be another explanation for his demise. Among his writings are two novels, “Autobiography of a Brown Buffalo” and “The Revolt of the Cockroach People”. (bio by: pacifica)