While he was living in El Paso, Texas, writer Jack London became interested in the war raging south of the border. He soon wrote 'The Mexican,' a short story based on true events that appeared in a 1911 issue of the Saturday Evening Post. Juan Fernandez is the pro-labor son of a printer living in Veracruz, Mexico, who publishes stories favorable to striking workers. After escaping a strike where federal troops kill many workers, he changes his name to Felipe Rivera and travels to El Paso and turns to boxing to raise money for Junta Revolucionaria Mexicana, a group of revolutionaries living in exile. Hearing that $5,000 is desperately needed to buy guns for frontline fighters in Mexico, he promises to raise the money in a few weeks by taking on a highly favored boxer from New York. In a tale of unbridled passion for his revolutionary cause and drama within the boxing ring, Fernandez wins. 'The Mexican' is a story about the complex balance of individual interest and commitment to a larger cause.
