sad news

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=2151&ncid=2151&e=1&u=/cpress/20050221/ca_pr_on_en/obit_hunter_thompson

ASPEN, Colo. - 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."


Just heard about it an hour ago.  :o

Didn't he put Pancho Barnes in one of his books, or am I comfusing him with someone else....?

i had a quote from 'fear and loathing in las vegas' in my sig for months... :\'(

he seemed the type to swallow a bullet. oh well.

*raises glass* next time i drop acid, i'll think of you hunter. RIP

Anyone here seen "Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas" or "Where The Buffallo Roam"?

Oh, that's terrible. I remember when I read Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, I just couldn't put it down. I laughed out loud several times each page, it was so hilarious. I actually did my twelfth grade high school English project on the book.

I'd say Hunter is the funniest and wittiest writer I've ever come across, and he will certainly be missed.

Oh, that's terrible. I remember when I read Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, I just couldn't put it down. I laughed out loud several times each page, it was so hilarious. I actually did my twelfth grade high school English project on the book.

I'd say Hunter is the funniest and wittiest writer I've ever come across, and he will certainly be missed.

Now he really is a gonzo journalist!
Write me Fear and Loathing at the Pearly Gates, have it on my desk Thursday morning.
We loves ya, Hunter!
:\'( :\'( :\'(

I saw "Where The Buffalo Roam" on video in the 80s. I could barely stand it, and I probably won't see "Fear and Loathing..." because I heard it was about as gross. Still, big loss. :(

Holy sh*t. I didn't know that. I always figured he'd outlive all of us.  :(

RIP!

Tanya

I read his first book, Hell's Angels: A Strange And Terrible Saga, a long time ago. At the time it came out (1966), the Hell's Angels had gained noteriety in the media as a bunch of marauding, raping thugs, and HST wanted to write an accurate story about them. So he slowly gained their trust and bought a BSA motorcycle and rode around with them for about a year or two, and wrote about his experiences. (In the end he wound up getting beaten savagely by several of them.)
    This was truly an innovative style of journalism, and Thompson's methods were pure genius yet completely mad at the same time. Hunter S. Thompson was a man whom I considered to be absolutely fearless and extremely strong-willed (and whom I probably would have been afraid of if I'd ever met him face-to-face), so the news of his suicide came as a total shock to me. I wonder if we'll ever again see another writer with balls as big as his. 

That's so sad.  I just bought 'the rum diary' (Because there is the movie adaption coming soon from Benicio Del Toro and J. Depp.) for my girlfriend about a month ago and started to read that book.  WOW.  It makes you think of any person is able to take their life so quickly.  And when it happens its just so shocking and random.

RIP Hunter S. Thompson.

 

i had a quote from 'fear and loathing in las vegas' in my sig for months... :\'(

he seemed the type to swallow a bullet. oh well.

*raises glass* next time i drop acid, i'll think of you hunter. RIP


LOL. I would never have thought a regular board Conservative would be the type to drop acid. You have just earned a bit more of my repsect.

This came as a huge shock to me. Though I kind of knew that Thompson would either drink himself to death or off himself, I still didn't want it to happen. I read "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" after having seen the movie (which was incredible). I enjoyed it so immensely. We've all known someone who was just a total whackjob, but also a great friend and I reckon that Thompson shared the same kind of relationship with the literate in this country. More is the pity of it. I said the same thing when Arthur Miller died last Friday... yet another 20th century icon gone.

LOL. I would never have thought a regular board Conservative would be the type to drop acid. You have just earned a bit more of my repsect.


i come off as a conservative! :o...here i was thinking i was a freaky goth liberal.

i come off as a conservative! :o...here i was thinking i was a freaky goth liberal.


Perhaps I mistook you for someone else.

:o :o

I'm..speechless. Its hard to know what to say. I'm just such a huge fan of Hunter and his writings..I just watched Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas last night with the commentary by Hunter on(it was DVD), and then to hear about this..I'm not sure what his reasons were, perhaps life was no fun anymore for him. He did live a full life, despite signing off a few years too early. Like what was stated in the article, Hunter didn't tread lightly like most folks, he stomped on the terra.

You know, this is just a few months after the election. Thompson was always in despair over the state of the country and politics, I can't help but wonder if Bush's re-election was one of the motivating factors for him to take his own life. I don't know.

Anyway, I shouldn't ramble on.

Rest in peace, Hunter. The American Dream mourns your passing just as much as you mourned it.  :\'( :\'( :\'(

You know it's not really that surprising that Hunter would kill himself. He probably just figured it was time to go.  :(