[lit-ideas] Hunter S. Thompson
- From: Robert Paul <robert.paul@xxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2005 22:40:50 -0800
(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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