Hunter S. Thompson, Dead At 65
Dean
Gonzo Journalist Hunter S. Thompson has apparently killed himself. The New York Times has a pretty good writeup.
You know, if I told the average person that not only did I love Fear & Loathing In Las Vegas, but that I understand every word in it perfectly, he would probably think it gave him all sorts of insights into my character and my past. And it would indeed generate many such insights. Most of them wrong, but a few of them right.
"No man is so foolish but he may sometimes give another good counsel, and no man so wise that he may not easily err if he takes no other counsel than his own. He that is taught only by himself has a fool for a master."
See ya, Duke.
* Update * Best blogosphere comment appeared RIGHT HERE:
"The libertarian pro-drug and pro-gun and pro-CITIZEN JOURNALIST in all of us is saddened by this loss."
Yeah.
I'd love to take W's route and say my past might serve as an example to kids. But Hunter S. Thompson's books had too much of an impact on me, and I've found that my past only gets me into trouble when I try to deny it.
His writing went downhill fast. When he first started his Page 2 column on ESPN.com, he seemed fresh and reinvigorated. But, after a while, he could only write about gambling problems, or so it seemed. Like Spalding Gray, seeing humor only in dark things and darkness in everything eventually undid his world.
But we're left with some wonderful writing and more quotes than from Blazing Saddles.
I think a drink is definitely in order - but I'm too old and mature to drink on a night before I work.
Dammit.
Wow, have I changed.
He had always been a vaguely famous name that never escaped to front and center from the recesses of the back of my mind. And all I remember of the sum of his life was that he coined what is supposed to be a famous phrase, gonzo journalism. What that is supposed to factually describe, I'm not certain.
Was he trying to make some final grand statement, like an american Mishima? His only suicide note was his corpse. So who can know?
Arnold Harris
Mount Horeb WI
I think he went out like Hemingway.
Arnold Harris
Mount Horeb WI
Here's the one I think most appropriate:
"There he goes. One of God's own prototypes. Some kind of high powered mutant never even considered for mass production. Too weird to live, and too rare to die."
Aw hell... live a little :)
Nice quote, Jim. Boy would it take me a long time to find my favorite HST quote.
The world is a smaller place.
"When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro."
Never trust a man on an ether binge.
Aaahhhhh, the contents of that suitcase/back trunk in Fear and Loathing...brings back memories!
I've been that blasted, but ye gods not for any amount of time! The man kept it up for YEARS!!!
Here's a pull and a toke to ye Hunter!
Anyway: I'm not so sure that Thompson's work is less influential than Hemingway's. First off, it's early yet, it's rarely fair to make such comparisons when an author's still alive (and Hunter's only freshly cold). Hemingway has faded somewhat (although still obviously important) and Thompson's influence can be seen on an awful lot of writing. As the quote I noted said, he seems to have been a precursor to bloggers in many ways.
Got me on that one -- it's cachet, not cache.
Probably the effing blogosphere ... now that no one is going through copy editors, misspellings abound. The mind boggles. I recommend federal action.