mountain bed Posted February 19, 2007 Share Posted February 19, 2007 It's hard to convey the sadness I felt when I heard the news 2 years ago that HST had shot himself. What Jerry Garcia was to me musically, Hunter was to me in the literary world...someone I felt spoke for me. I know there's fans here.. maybe you all could speak about how HST's work affected you. Although I have been a fan of all the "New Journalism" people ( Burroughs, Mailer, Kerouac, and to a lesser extent Wolfe) Hunter's stuff just resonated with me like no one else. "Fear & Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72" was partially responsible for turning me into a political junkie. It showed that politics wasn't necessarily a staid affair, but could be as crazy as any Hell's Angels freakout scene. "Generation of Swine" was a remarkable collection of articles that documented 'the Decline of Western Civilazation' aka the '80's One of those great books that you can just pick up & read a dozen pages or so if you're strapped for time. Here's to one of America's true originals & a credit to the Bluegrass state! EDIT: I'm a day early..I really thought it was 2/20. I guess that's what Gonzo will do to ya! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
embiggen Posted February 19, 2007 Share Posted February 19, 2007 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
paul137 Posted February 19, 2007 Share Posted February 19, 2007 what a send off . Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mchchef1 Posted February 19, 2007 Share Posted February 19, 2007 " You can't do that to me, I'm a Doctor of Journalism! " Bad Craziness Always been a fan, in addition to MB fondness of Campaign Trail '72, and Hell's Angels, (two of my favorites) The Great Shark Hunt Sealed the deal as a life long fan."Where the Buffalo Roam" Bill Murray > Johnny Depp (and I like JD) Making Kentuckians proudRIP Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bobbob1313 Posted February 19, 2007 Share Posted February 19, 2007 Hunter S Thompson killing himself was about as shocking as Kurt Cobain killing himself. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mchchef1 Posted February 19, 2007 Share Posted February 19, 2007 Hunter S Thompson killing himself was about as shocking as Kurt Cobain killing himself.Kurt Cobain killed himself? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
viatroy Posted February 19, 2007 Share Posted February 19, 2007 that's what she said. "when the going gets weird ..... " you know the rest of it . The drugs and mayhem aside, Hunter said what he meant, and meant what he said, fallout be damned. And for that I appreciated him. I was a little disappointed to find my son watching the Fear and Loathing movie without knowing the book was an iconic document of its day. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jhh4321 Posted February 19, 2007 Share Posted February 19, 2007 just finished reading fal on the campaign trail 72, a decent read i guess Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mchchef1 Posted February 19, 2007 Share Posted February 19, 2007 just finished reading fal on the campaign trail 72, a decent read i guessWhen you facture in all that went down in that election Amnesty, appeasement, acid McGovern, Watergate Etc. The fact that HST just kinda of literally stumbled into the whole thing with barley the credentials necessary, (keep in mind kids, political reporter for rolling stone in '72 did not carry a lot of weight) I think it kind of provides an outsiders view into national campaigning in a real fucked up time in America ps. maybe you did not read it right Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lammycat Posted February 20, 2007 Share Posted February 20, 2007 I remember discovering HST in my very early teens and being taken with his talent to convey "moments" in time with his unique and acerbic wit. He's typically remembered as being an outlaw, a crazed loon, a dope fiend, a heavy drinker, etc. Certainly he helped perpetuate this image, but what really gets me about him is that when all the images are momentarily pushed to the side, what we're left with is some amazing writing. Ultimately, his writing moves me. It makes me think. It allows me to enter his head and see things from a "shared" viewpoint (at times). Yes, it wasn't a big surprise when I heard he killed himself, as he'd talked about it for years and was a huge fan of Hemingway (who ended his life in similar fashion). Not that I have respect (or disrespect, for that matter) for his action, but I respect that he was his own man. Living on his own terms. Marching to the beat of his own drummer. I admired him. I go back to his writings very frequently. For the most part, they challenge my thinking. That's something not every writer can do to/for me. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
blindgonzo Posted February 20, 2007 Share Posted February 20, 2007 I first discovered Hunter's work when I was in grade 9, about 6 years ago. Up until that point, I had always had a dream of becoming a pediatrition. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas was my first HST read, and it changed everything. I became infatuated with his work and slowly bought and read everything of his I could get my hands on. I started to see myself writing for a living. After I'm done with my poli sci degree, I'd like to go to journalism school. My ultimate dream is to create a magazine. Hunter gave me that dream, and I'll be forever greatfull Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mr. Heartbreak Posted February 20, 2007 Share Posted February 20, 2007 Hunter and Kurt Vonnegut were two of the people most responsible for me wanting to become a writer. I was a teenager, and couldn't believe you could actually get paid to be so irreverent, weird and rude. I used to love to turn people on to Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and it was especially fun to see their reactions to the catalogue of drugs that was in the trunk of the big Shark. Hilarious. The "Back Door Beauty?" scene in that book is one of the funniest things ever written. In later years, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that Hunter was friends with Warren Zevon (another madman/genius who is sorely missed). I would like to have been a fly on the wall when those two were hanging out. There's no smiley for the Power to The People symbol, so I'll just have to use this: rock on, Hunter! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Welsh Rich Posted February 20, 2007 Share Posted February 20, 2007 It was a huge loss, certainly a very important man even if he was a crazy as a bag of badgers. Fear And Loathing is still one of my all time favourite books, it's just an amazing piece of work. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bjorn_skurj Posted February 20, 2007 Share Posted February 20, 2007 Dr. Thompson was both an incredibly entertaining writer and possessed of a rare ability to penetrate right to the truth of things. Gonzo is supposed to be like throwing a bottle of acid (the corrosive kind) against reality to strip off all the gunk collected in the form of lies, affectations and artifice. He did our nation and our world a great service, telling the blunt truth in an era where what's real is increasingly hidden away from us. I wish his life had more happiness in it and that he could have found a way to go on, but if anyone had earned the right to choose the manner and moment of his own passing, it would be my beloved fellow Kentuckian, Hunter S. Thompson. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
skyflynn Posted February 20, 2007 Share Posted February 20, 2007 His suicide note still gives me chills when I think about it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mountain bed Posted February 20, 2007 Author Share Posted February 20, 2007 I know I've mentioned this before (to Lammy & others) that perhaps my single favorite HST article was for a 1994 RS issue. It was also in the book "Better Than Sex", appropriately in Chapter 666 titled "The Death of Richard Nixon". It is the most vicious, mean-spirited piece of journalism you'll ever read...except you will also weep with joy at Hunter's eulogy to the man who was his nemesis, and gave his career a 'focus'. I really can't recommend this article enough. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dannygutters Posted February 20, 2007 Share Posted February 20, 2007 I enjoyed hunter's review of the new at the time ducatti 900. I mean hunter was basically a cafe racer himeself in more ways than one. http://www.latexnet.org/~csmith/sausage.html Some people will tell you that slow is good - and it may be, on some days - but I am here to tell you that fast is better. I've always believed this, in spite of the trouble it's caused me. Being shot out of a cannon will always be better than being squeezed out of a tube. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lammycat Posted February 20, 2007 Share Posted February 20, 2007 I know I've mentioned this before (to Lammy & others) that perhaps my single favorite HST article was for a 1994 RS issue. It was also in the book "Better Than Sex", appropriately in Chapter 666 titled "The Death of Richard Nixon". It is the most vicious, mean-spirited piece of journalism you'll ever read...except you will also weep with joy at Hunter's eulogy to the man who was his nemesis, and gave his career a 'focus'. I really can't recommend this article enough.I read a quote by Ralph Steadman recently in which he poders whether HST wound up in heaven or hell after his death. To paraphrase, Steadman suggested that HST would probably try them both out and settle on the one where Nixon ended up, as HST hated to be bored and would dig the confrontations with him. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mr. Heartbreak Posted February 20, 2007 Share Posted February 20, 2007 If the right people had been in charge of Nixon's funeral, his casket would have been launched into one of those open-sewage canals that empty into the ocean just south of Los Angeles. He was a swine of a man and a jabbering dupe of a president. Nixon was so crooked that he needed servants to help him screw his pants on every morning. Even his funeral was illegal. He was queer in the deepest way. His body should have been burned in a trash bin. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SlowBurn68 Posted February 20, 2007 Share Posted February 20, 2007 Too bad he had to be murdered... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lammycat Posted February 20, 2007 Share Posted February 20, 2007 People who claim to know jackrabbits will tell you they are primarily motivated by Fear, Stupidity, and Craziness. But I have spent enough time in jackrabbit country to know that most of them lead pretty dull lives; they are bored with their daily routines: eat, fuck, sleep, hop around a bush now and then... No wonder some of them drift over the line into cheap thrills once in a while; there has to be a powerful adrenalin rush in crouching by the side of a road, waiting for the next set of headlights to come along, then streaking out of the bushes with split-second timing and making it across to the other side just inches in front of the speeding front tires. -From Fear and Loathing On The Campaign Trail '72 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mr. Heartbreak Posted February 20, 2007 Share Posted February 20, 2007 I haven't read that book in a while. Classic HST. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lammycat Posted February 20, 2007 Share Posted February 20, 2007 There's a new HST book on it's way out. I'm not sure about the exact release date, but I'm on the waitlist at the local library and it's been ordered....http://www.amazon.com/Mutineer-Ravings-Mis...9622948-1744021 I've also seen mention of a forthcoming collection of letters/comments/oral history about the man himself, as put together by editor and HST friend Warren Hinkle, from various companions over his lifespan. I believe it's called "Who Killed Hunter Thompson." Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sir Stewart Posted February 21, 2007 Share Posted February 21, 2007 "You could strike sparks anywhere. There was a fantastic universal sense that whatever we were doing was right, that we were winning. . . . And that, I think, was the handle — that sense of inevitable victory over the forces of Old and Evil. Not in any mean or military sense; we didn’t need that. Our energy would simply prevail. There was no point in fighting — on our side or theirs. 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 — that place where the wave finally broke and rolled back." That made me weep the first time I read it. I think I was stoned. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mountain bed Posted February 21, 2007 Author Share Posted February 21, 2007 "You could strike sparks anywhere. There was a fantastic universal sense that whatever we were doing was right, that we were winning. . . . And that, I think, was the handle Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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