Evening star., 1958-05-09

Sarita sitS on the sunny tluf.
This Is the bad side Of a bun
ring. but she can sit down front
for 35 pesos. The shady side
costs 10. Sarita is the only
blond American critic Of bull
lights. She is tall and slim and,
sitting In the Plaza de Toros
In Mexico City. she watches
the action below like an at
tractive cat. The eyes move. not
the head.
She is not given TO conyer-
sation. There are six bulls and
three matadors, and she
watches In complete concen-
tration, the pencil making little
notes on a pad. Each matador
fights two bulls. Sarita looks
for artistry and courage and,
in the morning. her opinions
will be published in the Eng
lish-language daily newspaper
In Mexico City.
II Is a long way back TO
when she was Sarah Ann Spitz-
messer, daughter Of an Albu-
querque clothing buyer. She
attended the University of
Tulsa, and the most thrilling
moment of study for her was
when she made a student trip
to Mexico. She fell In love with
Mexico City. not so much be-
cause it sits like a huge sar-
donyx in high prongs, but be-
cause its people are honest and
eloquent and polite.
Il Wrote That"
She was a receptionist at
Morningside Hospital in Tulsa
when a dark, chubby humofist
walked in and asked where his
grandmother's room might be.
Sarah told him. He dropped a
copy of Golfers Magazine on
her desk. He pointed to a base
ball poem. Il wrote that" he
said.
The name on it was Lloyd
Rosenf1eld. He looked like a
wise caballero so she married
him. Sarah became Sarito and
they moved to Mexico City.
They have a nice apartment
and a pretty daughter named
Lisa. Mr.. Rosenfield can take
Mexico or leave it. and he car
take bullflghts or leave them.
but If he leaves either one. he
runs the risk Of doing it alone.
He is a shy man, although, in
the humor magazines, his arti-
cles are extrovert and wildly
funny.
On Sunday afternoons, he
sits at his typewriter while Sar-
ita goes off to the bull ring.
The fights start at 4 pm. and
are over by 6. Each one lasts
about 20 minutes. The object
of the game is for the matador,
In a prescribed artistic manner.
to outwit a strong and enraged
animal and, ultimately, to kill
him.
Some Fine MatadOrs
Mexico has had some fine
matadors. Carols Arruza had
grace and courage. However,
his wife worried and could have
no minos. Arruza retired and
they have three youngsters. !
Now he is back, fighting a safer
way, on horseback. This is
Portuguese and is called re-
joneador.
Manuel Capetillo is good. No
one makes better passes, but
the crowd questions his courage |
and screams coward" and
throws cushions when Capetillo
plays a belligerent bull safe.
A good bullfighter earns $4,-
900 for killing two bulls on a
Sunday afternoon. If he works
hard, he makes $160,000 a year. !
To some, like Sonora Arruza,
the man is more important than |
the money. To the true aficion-
ado, like Sarita, the fight be-
tween man and beast is as i'm
portant as anything else in life.
She leans over the barrier, one
of $4,000 patrons, and she |
squints in the sun and listens
to the band, halfway up the
shady side, play Virgin de
Macarena."
She watches the parade of
the matadors and, for their
sake, she hopes that there are
no bad bulls today. A bad bull
is one that hesitates or one that |