Hunter S. Thompson Commits Suicide

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4815089,00.html

Author Hunter S. Thompson Kills Himself

Monday February 21, 2005 4:46 AM


AP Photo NY124

ASPEN, Colo. (AP) - Hunter S. Thompson, the acerbic counterculture writer who popularized a new form of fictional journalism in books like ``Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas,'' fatally shot himself Sunday night at his home, his son said. He was 67.

"Hunter prized his privacy and we ask that his friends and admirers respect that privacy as well as that of his family,'' Juan Thompson said in a statement released to the Aspen Daily News.

Pitkin County Sheriff Bob Braudis, a personal friend of Thompson, confirmed the death to the News. Sheriff's officials did not return calls to The Associated Press late Sunday.

Juan Thompson found his father's body. Thompson's wife, Anita, was not home at the time.

Besides the 1972 drug-hazed classic about Thompson's time in Las Vegas, he is credited with pioneering New Journalism - or ``gonzo journalism'' - in which the writer made himself an essential component of the story.

An acute observer of the decadence and depravity in American life, Thompson wrote such books as ``Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail'' in 1973 and the collections ``Generation of Swine'' and ``Songs of the Doomed.'' His first ever novel, ``The Rum Diary,'' written in 1959, was first published in 1998.

Other books include ``Hell's Angels'' and ``The Proud Highway.'' His most recent effort was ``Hey Rube: Blood Sport, the Bush Doctrine, and The Downward Spiral of Dumbness.''

 

sad.

 

No fucken way... this is too hard to believe... HST is too strong of a man to go out that way.

The best journalist ever...

Sad day... I love his books.

 

"Sex, drugs and insanity have always worked for me, but I wouldn't recommend them for everyone." -HST

Maybe they didn't work for him after all..

 

I smell sabotage and thickening plots and conspiracies like manure with shrooms growing out the top.

 

yah, maybe what ever you do or dont do... the sorrow of the world can take hold.

i can understand but i would never do it. having lost a loved one to that.

 

Yes, sadly HST won't be there to write about it

 

I can't believe that, I wonder how Johnny deep is talking the news

 

Why, do you know eachother?

 

My friend just called me with that news about an hour ago, I fuckin' can't believe it.

R.I.P. Gonzo

 

They are very good mates.

 

lol, I love you lace

 

I have to say that I was never a big HST fan. There was a time when I was quite influenced by his writing style, but I was never much of a fan of his material -- most of which is too decadent and over-exaggerated for its own good, in my opinion.

Over-indulgent sex and drugs only goes so far with me. His post-1970's material is average at best.

Plus, much of the stuff I've read from HST in the past year -- especially leading up to the November elections -- was just pathetic. His praise of the Rothschild-backed globalist and corporate shill John Kerry, and his adherence to the false left/right paradigm turned me off a lot.

Nevertheless, he was a talented man and an influential writer. RIP, Hunter.

 

The poor man, i feel so sad for him..

 

Yeah they did Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Hunter s. Thompson, hade cut Johnny deeps hair in his
kitchen for the part

 

sad

 

How come I don't even feel vaguely sad? If anything, anyway, I am happy to know he completed his life and moved on in spirit.

 

Ahh...my siggy quote is one of his. Salut *sigh*

Johnny Depp also spent a month sleeping in Thompsons basement preparing for the roll I thought that bit of info was funny. CAN YOU IMAGINE WHAT HE SAW IN HIS BASEMENT? Oh lord.

 

I just watched Where the Buffalo Roam 2 weeks ago. I love that movie. I liked Fear and Loathing too.

Hunter was a nut. I enjoyed his work.

He must of been really twisted to shoot himself. Damn, that just sucks.

 

I am still waiting for more details. He could have accidentaly shot himself. He did play with guns an awful lot and didn't care much about safety. Or someone could have set it up. Unlikely though. I think he wanted to take control. God knows he was the type of man (or beast) to play with fate and see how far he could push. Maybe he was satisfied with everything he had accomplished and now that he had it all, what else was there to do? I am torn between thinking he was a coward, or a genius. The part that loves him and his work and his mindset wants to think this was just another crazy act of his and he knew all along that this is what he wanted. The logical part says his consience caught up with him, the wasting away of years promting an idea that never caught on, except to a few. I hope he went with courage and not cowerdice.