[lit-ideas] Hunter S. Thompson

(CNN) -- Journalist and author Hunter S. Thompson, who unleashed the 
concept of "gonzo journalism" in books like "Fear and Loathing in Las 
Vegas," fatally shot himself in the head Sunday at his home near Aspen, 
Colorado, police and his family said.

"On Feb. 20, Dr. Hunter S. Thompson took his life with a gunshot to the 
head at his fortified compound in Woody Creek, Colo.," said a statement 
issued by Thompson's son, Juan Thompson, to the Aspen Daily News as 
reported by the Denver Post.

"The family will shortly provide more information about memorial service 
and media contacts. Hunter prized his privacy, and we ask that his 
friends and admirers respect that privacy as well as that of his family."

A dispatcher for the Pitkin County Sheriff's Department confirmed 
Thompson's death.

Thompson, 67, was associated with the "New Journalism" movement of the 
1960s, in which writers took a more novelistic and personal approach to 
their subjects. His account of a drug-fueled trip to cover a district 
attorneys' anti-drug conference as a writer for Rolling Stone magazine 
was the seed of "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas," perhaps his best-known 
work.

Subtitled "A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream," the 
1971 book included his lament on the passing of the 1960s and its "sense 
of inevitable victory over the forces of Old and Evil."

"There was no point in fighting -- on our side or theirs," he wrote. "We 
had all the momentum; we were riding the crest of a high and beautiful 
wave. So now, less than five years later, you can go up on a steep hill 
in Las Vegas and look West, and with the right kind of eyes you can 
almost see the high-water mark -- the place where the wave finally broke 
and rolled back."

In "Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail '72," he described the 
campaign leading to Richard Nixon's re-election as president with terms 
like "brutal" and "depraved," speculating that Democratic Sen. Ed Muskie 
was under the influence of an obscure African psychoactive drug and 
bemoaned Nixon's looming victory by proclaiming, "Jesus, where will it 
end? How low do you have to stoop in this country to become president?"

Other works included "The Great Shark Hunt," a collection of 
Watergate-era essays; "Generation of Swine," his lament on the youth of 
the 1980s; and his account of Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential win, 
"Better than Sex." His lone novel, "The Rum Diaries," was published in 
1998, while a collection of letters, "The Proud Highway: The Saga of a 
Desperate Southern Gentleman," came out in 1997.

In recent years, he wrote a column for the sports network ESPN's Web 
site. In his most recent piece, posted Feb. 15, he describes shooting at 
golf balls like skeet with a friend near his longtime home -- he called 
it "a fortified compound" -- outside Aspen.

"The general reaction here is shock and dismay, because he was such a 
figure in town," Aspen resident John Hoag told CNN. Still, Hoag said, 
Thompson remained a private person. "The most news we heard from him was 
when a pack of dogs killed his peacock, Atillah, and he broke his leg in 
Hawaii last year."

Thompson also was the model for the character of "Uncle Duke" in the 
"Doonesbury" comic strip. But Thompson strongly disliked the 
characterization, once telling an interviewer that he would set 
"Doonesbury" creator Garry Trudeau on fire if the two ever met.

In later years, however, Thompson said he had made peace with the "Uncle 
Duke" portrayal.

"I got used to it a long time ago," he told Freezerbox magazine in 2003. 
"I used to be a little perturbed by it. It was a lot more personal ... 
It no longer bothers me."

In 1980, actor Bill Murray portrayed Thompson in the film "Where the 
Buffalo Roam." And in 1998, the film "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" 
was released, based on Thompson's book and starring Johnny Depp as the 
journalist. A new film reportedly is in production based on Thompson's 
novel "The Rum Diaries."

The writer himself, Hoag said, will be missed. "There's no one in the 
world these days who writes the truth ... as he seems to, to me," he 
said. "He spoke to the world and said what people were afraid to say."
---------------
Robert Paul
  
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