Monkey's Marginalia No 11, The B. Traven edition

1.  Remember Luis Bunuel with the strange movie poster for That Obscure Object of Desire?  I found a direct link to him through B. Traven.  Esperanza Lopez Mateos, who was Traven's translator until her death in 1951, was cousin to Gabriel Figueroa, a well-known cinematographer who worked with Luis Bunuel.  I would like to note here that Bunuel was a contemporary and friend of Salvador Dali and the Spanish poet, Federico Garcia Lorca, who was assassinated in 1936 by Nationalist forces during the Spanish Civil War.

2.  Time magazine did an article on B. Traven and was able to track down Mateos, Traven's translator a few years before her death.  She pretty much scoffed at the idea that she could be Traven, noting that some of the books would have been written when she was a young girl and that she is guilty of the sin of elaboration, something Traven did not do with his writing.  

3.  In Gabriel Figuerora's autobiography, Memorias, he says his cousin knew Traven to be the illegimate son of Emil Rathenau.  This comes from second hand information from a website, and since there is no translation available, I would appreciate the help of any Spanish speakers who have access to this book to confirm this information. 

4.  Peter Wood's theory is that Traven was Danish explorer and archaeologist, Frans Blum. 

5.  I did come across the website of Terry Priest whose neighbor was Henry Schnautz, one-time body guard to Trotsky.  Perhaps the most interesting thing about Henry was his love affair with Esperanza Lopez Mateos.  Just as interesting on the site is the small book Esperanza wrote and pictures of Trotsky's room (scroll down) after the assassination attempt. 

Please be polite if you choose to engage Mr. Priest, he assures me below that he is not "in game."   I would hate for him to take down all of his wonderful information because one of us was rude.