Oscar Zeta Acosta (April 8, 1935 - 1974?) was an attorney, author, politician, and Chicano activist. He is most famous for being portrayed as Hunter S. Thompson's sidekick Dr. Gonzo in Thompson's book, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (sub-titled, A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream).

Acosta was born in El Paso, Texas, and raised in a small rural town near Modesto, California. Acosta's father was drafted during World War II, so young Oscar had to take care of the family. At times, Acosta felt like an outsider and he presents his feelings of alienation, mistrust, and dislocation in his works. He was both an intelligent and sensitive student.

After finishing high school, Acosta joined the U.S. Air Force. He then worked his way through college, attended law school, and passed the California Bar exam in 1966. In 1967, Oscar began working as an antipoverty attorney in Oakland, California.

In 1970, Acosta ran for sheriff of Los Angeles County against Peter Pitchess , and received more than 100,000 votes. During the campaign, he defended the anti-establishment Chicano group Catolicos por La Raza , spent a couple of days in jail for contempt of court, and vowed to do away with the Sheriff's Department as it was then constituted. Acosta, known for loud ties and a flowered attaché case with a Chicano Power sticker, didn't come close to Sheriff Pitchess' 1,300,000 votes but did beat Everett Holladay , Monterey Park Chief of Police.

His first novel, Autobiography of a Brown Buffalo, was published in 1972, followed in 1973 by The Revolt of the Cockroach People. In 1974, Acosta disappeared after traveling to Mexico. His son, Marco Acosta , believes that he was the last person to talk to his father. In May, 1974, Acosta telephoned his son, mentioning "Son, I'm 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."[1]

In an interview Hunter Thompson is quoted as saying Acosta was stabbed and thrown overboard somewhere off the coast of Mexico. There are rumours in reference to what precipitated the murder.

Acosta's photo and bio appear on the back cover of early editions of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. It is said that Thompson's publisher became nervous at Acosta's being mentioned by name in the book, together with Thompson's accounts of copious drug use by the two. Contacted by the publisher, Acosta refused an offer to have his name excised from the book. Acosta demanded that the book only be published on condition that his name be left in, and that his name and picture be prominently displayed on the cover.

Bibliography

• The Revolt of the Cockroach People (1972), ISBN 0-679-72212-2 (Knopf)

• Autobiography of a Brown Buffalo (1973), ISBN 0-679-72213-0 (Random House)

• Oscar "Zeta" Acosta: the uncollected works. (1996) (Arte Público Press)