Known as America’s foremost authority on bullfighting, author, painter, bullfighter, raconteur and bon vivant Barnaby Conrad discusses Barcelona’s recent decision to prohibit bullfighting and the bull that leapt into the grandstands injuring 40 people in Navarra, Spain.

Barnaby has written seven books on bullfighting, his most recent is a re-release of The Death of Manolete. Friday, August 27, 2010 marks the 63rd anniversary of Manolete’s death. When he died, Spanish dictator Franco declared three days of national mourning.

Manolete, whose real name is Manuel Laureano Rodríguez, was the first Hispanic superstar. He was known on three continents. He was the first millionaire bullfighter. Yet  little is known of Manolete in the United States. Barnaby, while serving in the Foreign Office in Peru, was the only American to entertain Manolete in his home.

Listen to this captivating racanteur tell his tales below: