Buchanan was one of the city’s truly flamboyant characters

By John Katsilometes

Sunday, Nov. 8, 2009 | 12:54 p.m.

James “Bucky” Buchanan was the kind of guy you’d weave through a crowd of dignitaries to speak with in a jammed ballroom. I say this because I’ve made that quick-cut move many times over the years to say hello to the hotshot attorney and his wife, Gianna.

They cut quite a figure, these two, with exquisitely gowned and bejeweled Gianna -- who stands 6-foot-2 in heels -- towering over her stocky husband, who sometimes favored gold-and-black suit combos. Last night, it was distressing to hear that the flamboyant, unfailingly witty and entirely engaging Las Vegas attorney had suddenly died at age 74, suffering an apparent heart attack while driving his Ferrari near his home on Linden Avenue and Wilshire Boulevard. According to a published report, the accident occurred at 6 p.m., and Buchanan was pronounced dead a short time later at University Medical Center.

Late last night and again today, I spoke with Gianna, who said, “On behalf of the whole family, we’re very grateful for the outpouring of support we’ve received from friends and well-wishers. Bucky was a great, great man.” Funeral arrangements will be announced over the next couple of days, she said.

Buchanan represented a host of famous clients, most recently Roger Mayweather, the uncle and trainer for champion boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr., as Roger Mayweather faced felony coercion and battery-strangulation charges. In 2003 and 2004, he represented Steven Gazlay, then a member of the 311 Boyz (a gang made up of teens from middle- and upper-middle class homes in northwest Las Vegas) accused and eventually convicted of a felony in a crowbar attack on a fellow teen. He played a role in the Ted Binion murder trial a decade ago, representing David Mattsen, who was eventually acquitted of attempting to steal millions in cash from Binion’s vault in Pahrump.

But Bucky was so much more than a lawyer. He was a big-game hunter, often jetting off to Africa to slay trophies in the form of elephants and tigers and other wild creatures. The last time I saw him, at the opening-night performance for Danny Gans at Encore Theater back in February, he said he’d been working on a reality TV show based on his dually fascinating lives as a hunter and law practitioner. One problem with getting anyone to accept the premise of the show was that the hunting scenes were too grisly.

"I told them, 'This is what reality looks like,' " he said at the time.

The Buchanans did star in a 12-episode Court TV reality show, “Las Vegas Law,” in 2005, and Bucky was partners with Chip Lightman in the old Coachman’s Inn restaurant on Eastern Avenue at Desert Inn Road, which the two took over in 2006.

During our brief talk yesterday, Gianna mentioned that it was especially tragic that her husband died on Nov. 7. Why? It was the anniversary of the day, 11 years ago, the two met, on a blind date.

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