Luis Valdez put Chicano life on stage and screen with ‘Zoot Suit’ and ‘La Bamba.’ That’s only half his story.

Luis Valdez put Chicano life on stage and screen with ‘Zoot Suit’ and ‘La Bamba.’ That’s only half his story.

In the dusty labor camps of Delano, California, a misshapen potato and a worn-out work boot ignited the imagination of then 12-year-old Luis Valdez. Inspired by Marlon Brando’s performance as Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata in the 1952 film “Viva Zapata!,” the young farmworker fashioned his own version of the movie. He called it “Viva Zapato!” – “Long Live the Shoe!” – one of countless stories he would create over his lifetime. Composing s…