New book chronicles ex-mayor’s abduction

Copyright © 2008
Gallup Independent
By Bill Donovan
Staff writer

GALLUP — Former Gallup Mayor Emmett “Frankie” Garcia will be back in Gallup on Nov. 21 to relive — once again — the day in 1973 when he was abducted.

The occasion is in connection with a fictional account of that incident that was written by Gary Stuart entitled “Aim for the Mayor.”

Garcia, who now lives in retirement in Tucson, said he plans to host a party that night at Hotel El Rancho in which he has invited his friends and supporters from those days to come and meet the author and have the book signed by both Stuart and Garcia.

The following day the two plan to attend another book signing at UNM. The time of that event is still being worked out.

Stuart, who wrote “Gallup 14,” a fictional account of the 1933 riots in Gallup, spent several years on the book about Garcia’s abduction by Native activists Larry Casuse, who would die in the attempt, and Robert Nakaidinae, who would go to prison for his involvement in the incident.

It’s a book of fiction, but Garcia said the book vividly details the events that occurred on that day. To do it, Stuart creates a couple of characters and evolves the story around them. He also ties in the events during that time involving the American Indian Movement and the occupation of Alcatraz and Wounded Knee.

“Doing it this way works for (Stuart),” said Garcia, adding that he was very pleased with the book. He said that Stuart decided to make it a fictional work because he didn’t want to take a chance of offending anyone and having to defend the book in a lawsuit.

Garcia was back in Gallup on Oct. 25, 2007, and spoke at a local school and at the University of New Mexico-Gallup, giving his account of that day for the first time.

“I was very pleased with the feedback I received from that day,” Garcia said last week.

“Aim for the Mayor” is available through Amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com and local bookstores for $29.99 in hardback and $19.99 in trade paperback. Because it is from a specialty publisher, none of the Internet bookstores give a discount.

The reviews on the book so far have been excellent, with most giving the book four or five stars.

Peter Baird, a lawyer, writer and editor living in Phoenix, said this was a “great read.”

“Did the Wounded Knee rage reach the Navajo reservation?” asks Baird in his review of the book. “Was there a connection between the kidnapping of a Gallup, New Mexico, mayor and the violence in South Dakota?

“These are the questions that Gary Stuart — a much-published author and Gallup native — tackles with sure-footed skill, admirable research and uncommon insight. Whether you are a Native American, a western history buff or simply an avid reader, this book should be on your ‘must read’ list.”

Garcia said he still wants to have the whole story told — which includes events that occurred in Gallup prior to the kidnapping that Garcia feels played a major role in the decision by Casuse to go ahead with the kidnapping.
He said he is working with another writer, Tom Hartsock, who currently writes local news.

He said the book he and Hartsock are writing will explain in detail why he thinks Casuse was used by people in Gallup who wanted him removed as mayor. He added that he hopes the book will be published in 2010.