LA Times
Hunter S. Thompson, who penned 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas,' commits suicide
From Associated Press
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."
RIP Hunter you loony genius....
LDMA - Ajarn Forum Admin
-------
Don't get me wrong - I don't want a 'serious' board but I'd like posts to be either genuinely amusing, informative and/ or thought provoking.
Ian McNamara - July 2000
A clash with the management will not serve the purpose of your inner peace and therefore will deprive you from happiness. Director of PAIS 2009
Only the bad person say the bad thing about the good thing.
Anon. Thai DOS
I enjoyed the movie version of Fear and Loathing... was one of the few times Johnny Depp ever really has seemed to be acting as anyone else but Johnny Depp.
"Steven"
"Teachers, we are having some technical problems with our PA system. If you are having any difficulty hearing this announcement, please send a student to the main office to let us know."
Heard in a U.S. Public School
oh shit, say it ain't true- my hearts sunk.
oh no, my hero dead. i spent many, many, many long hours reading his stuff and consider him a legend. not only for his drug-addled shenanigans but also for his wonderful writings on politics, particulary those of america.
to me, he was a genius and he opened my mind up to so much that makes me who i am today. many will disagree but for me it's a real loss, his best writing was way behind him but his absence truly closes the door on a creative, subversive and liberating period in history.
whiskey must be drunk tonight and trouble must be got into.
the only thing i can say is that it solved the riddle of just how this dinosaur of toxic substance abuse would die, the way i see it, he took the only way out that he could see- by his own hand, following his own path. from the main who wrote 'politics is all about controlling your environment', he controlled his until the very last.
the world of literature, politics and imagination is a duller place from this point onwards.
"...ever wonder why they kill the weak ones, baby?"
I read "Generation of Swine," and considereing to be absolutely awful.
Maybe Bernard Trink will soon follow.
Two peas in a pod.
Wow, that's a shock, but it seems a fitting way for him to go, really.
I'm not his biggest fan, but I think "Fear And Loathing" was inspired and absolutely hilarious, and some of his earlier political journalism was good stuff.
He was one of those brilliant lunatics that are necessary to help keep a society sane, or at least aware of its own insanity.
RIP
Or would you like to swing on a star?
Shame! And not even that old really!
Riddle me this brother can you handle it
Your style to my style you can't hold a candle to it
Equinox symmetry and the balance is right
Smokin' and drinkin' on a Tuesday night
It's not how you play the game it's how you win it
I cheat and steal and sin and I'm a cynic
but lived a thousand lifetimes in one short one!
Yeah fair enough. Did he have any kind of diseases or whatever that would have brought this about?
Well, we have to ask this question:
Why?
Often many reasons. Private reasons.
But why oh, why?
i'm guessing he was fairly well aware he was dying, heard he'd been living on yoghurt and liquidized avacado for some time- all his stomach could handle- except, of course, scotch, acid and strong weed.Originally Posted by kenkannif
as i said, he'd always been a control freak, this was, i think, his way of controlling his own demise.
.....and "lashings of cocaine", as Enid Blyton might have put it. :smile:except, of course, scotch, acid and strong weed.
here, here!
:chug:
Gotcha! Not a bad diet though, avacados are yummy!
was it suicide - with his well known love of firearms and the above, maybe it was an accident.except, of course, scotch, acid and strong weed.
SOme of his earlier writing was quite good....RIP
LinkBack URL
About LinkBacks
Bookmarks