Great post, LONO...

thanks. I am pretty fraeked, and very embarrased to admit... but crying right now.

this is horrible, utterly unspeakable horrible. fucking hell, i didn't expect this for to greet me in the morning. awful, awful, awful. just fucking awful and sad and awful. thank you lono. fucking hell.

HST is now a martyr for the Gonzo cause. He was one journalist who dared speak the unfiltered truth.

I'm sorry to use this email address - I actually do receive mail at that address.
I've never posted on a blog before and I don't want to open my ISP email address
up to the possibility of spam.

Ok, I just want to say think about this.

You can't say "cowardly way".
You can't feel the way you've described about Hunter S Thompson and use such a cliché description of something you have no inside information about.

Cowardly
Main Entry: cow•ard
Pronunciation: 'kau(-&)rd
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Old French coart, from coe tail, from Latin cauda
: one who shows disgraceful fear or timidity
- coward adjective

"one who shows disgraceful fear or timidity"

Hey, think about it - there's nothing fearful or timid about a man who decides he wants to check out, and actually has the balls to put a bullet in his own head and make it happen.

Cowardly people shoot unarmed people - not themselves.

Nothing disgraceful either - it was his life and his decision.

He died the same way he lived:
On his own terms.
He made his own decision and he didn't give a damn about popular opinion.

Hunter S Thompson: Consistent to the end.

Chicken shit way to go.

I know you won't be able to read the email I supplied to make this comment but, for the record, it's "HunterS@forpresident.com"

In essence, he was my president. He has guided me far more than any "legitimate" political leader ever could. He has taught me about truth, justice, corruption, depravity, loneliness, love, and shit the list could go on forever.. Above all he taught me Freedom. Truly unbridled freedom. A man who never stopped TRULY living life for one moment, constantly expanding (more like utterly annihilating)the boundaries of thought and literature. Hunter will be missed. His guidance will have to come elsewhere, from the spirit he has instilled in all of those who have ever read and appreciated his work. His character seems so clear in my mind, I can almost see how he'd react to this news had he read it himself, though I'll hardly get into that here.
His life exists for all of us to view and appreciate. He is immortal. Appropriately, this may have been his final spoof to us all. He'll never die, and we're damn fools who deserve to be publically humiliated for thinking such ridiculous things.

RIP HST

Selah,
Mahalo,
Res Ipsa Loquitor.

he went out with a ZANG!

there simply are no words for me right now. i am in shock. got online to check email and found out the horrible news. not much sleep tonight. check out msn.com, they misuse his words saying that nixon was quoted as saying that HST "represented that dark, venal, and incurably violent side of american character", sound familiar? FUCK msn.com WE WILL MISS YOU HUNTER

Hunter Thompson dead?? and at is own hand? Doesn't sound Gonzo to me but he saw things the rest of us didn't .. his way of leaving the mess before getting nuked? Did he think we didn't need him anymore? That he'd said it all already and we'll get by on that? That would be Hunter but, goddamn, why leave in such a hurtful way man

R.I.P. Hunter, you'll always be remembered.

Went out just like Hemingway. It's so sad when writers have to leave before they are actually done.

Hunter: Why???

I won a creative writing scholarship to Bennington, I have received numerous national awards for my writing, I have been published and paid to translate my visions into palatable, palpable words.

As a poet, I never did excell at factual journalism.

Who? HST.
What? Gone.
When? Now.
Where? Everywhere.

why have my words deserted me

yo no se

aloha

fucking bats! goddamn fucking bats... rip/hst.

It's Mahola, not Aloha, btw. As HST himself signed off.

As for going out the way he did, it makes perfect sense. He lived on his own terms and decided to die on his own terms.

I don't know how many details will get out, but I'll bet you my copy of Hey Rube that he planned this and had a damned good reason for it.

Dave

Lots of people I admire have left lately, but the right way, not like this. This makes me so sad in a way the others didn't. Well, he was a mean son of a bitch at the end, I understand. Keep a good thought.

well bubba, a fucked up way to go out fer sure. maybe i always thought it would be too many chivas snowcones and a few thousand dynamite caps that the mercenary boys from soldier of fortune magazine accidentily left under the seat of an old jeep grand cherokee would send the whole shit pile skyward. indeed. now we will all have to wait out the excruciating process of an autopsy to see if there is any truth to my own personal suspicions that the dr. wa termianlly ill and not in it for the long haul. still, all of those that were touched either be his writings, himself personally, or both he shall not ever be forgotten for the insight, humor and eloquence. Res Ipsa Loqitor. R.I.P. hst

i actually lived in aspen for a number of years, met the man, went to his house and collected many of my own and other stories. that being said i want to relate one that wa told to me by an old flyfishing guide/friend. it goes something like this: summer 1980. early morning maybe 6:30 a.m. woody creek at the time was very underdeveloped and "tom" let's call him is driving down the dirt road along the roaring fork on his way to basalt. all of a sudden a pale ghost white man, sweating profusely in nohting more than a dirty soaked t-shirt and jeans flags down his truck. said stranger is rambling nearly incoherently that some "crazy sonofabitch is trying to kill me with cocaine. we've been up for three days straight and i gotta get outta here. please take to the police or hospital or whatever, just get me outta here. that fucker's crazy!!" now have i paraphrased? yes. do i believe my friend? 100% and the person scrambling out of a ditch to flag him down? John Belushi. the person he was running from? HST. think about it. it doesn't matter if you believe it or not, i do bubba, i do. david.

worth a read -- nice eulogy

http://www.dvorak.org/blog/?p=1428

what the fuck is this all about?
what the fuck happened?

i don't know what to say. hunter was a symbol for all of us. he was like a beacon. an archetype of what still could be. an example that there were still free individuals. that all was not lost.

that you could still be stoic. that you could still be brave. that knowing about politics was sexy. that dividing the political landscape into right and left was an outdated and oversimplified way of looking at things. that it was a stupid metaphor.

people like hunter and frank zappa and philip k dick are so MISSING from the world now. he was probably the last one left of that category.

i am fucking pissed and i don't know who at exactly. i feel old. if hunter lost faith, how can i carry on?

what the fuck does this mean to me? i remember when i was so depressed, so down, so goddamn bad. i came back to live with my folks after a stint at a start-up had gone bad. i was out of work, feeling inadequate, talentless, and deficient in the all-too powerfull technical buzzword know-hows. i didn't have a girlfriend, and couldn't find jobs. my only true friends had left town, or had changed completely. i was sunken. this went on for about a year.

and all through this, one of the few things that kept me going, besides inertia, was HST.

"fear and loathing in las vegas" is not about drugs, it's about "the bus", the whole dadaist idea of fun -- accepting total chaos without associated anxiety.

its about recognizing that you could not only learn to enjoy chaos, but that you could learn to thrive on it. learn not only to "embrace" it, but to recognize it for what it is. recognize it as the natural state/property/condition of the universe. that you could not only "take it easy", but quite simply NOT GIVE A SHIT. be invincible by faking insanity.

"when the going gets wierd, the wierd turn pro"

or more elaborated: "when the going gets wierd, 1)either the going chooses the wierd as the new pros or 2)the going wierds the pros into becoming wierd"

this ontological camouflage, was the outer shell under which he protected his powerful intellect and abbrasive attitude.

why did he do it? i'm still in denial. a part of me died today.

goodbye, uncle duke :'(

http://www.gonzo.org/hst/ht/pix/hunter-thompson-profile_3.jpg

I've got the Fear. HST got us through the first four years and then shoved us out of the nest. We've got to fly on our own for the next four, (and let's hope it's only four more). The man said that only the vulgar survive. Well it's time for the rest of us to get extremely fucking vulgar!

LAUGHTER, TRUTH, LIGHT,HUNTER GAVE THE WORLD GIFTS THE ORACLE BRINGS FROM THE OTHER SIDE...ED

I still dont want to believe it. I wasnt really surprised when I heard he'd died, knew it was coming, but suicide? Knock me over with a godamned feather. Its been a savage night after that shit.

The Mojo Wire is strangely silent, and I have to wonder... did it finally get weird enough for him?
I cant decide who wins from this... but I feel like we're all losing.

Strange and terrible... I need music, loud and powerful music or to shoot guns or something.

This is truly a sad day. One of the few great writers of our lifetime has passed by his own hand, leaving us to ask questions and pick up the pieces.

I can't say I blame him. Hell. This man can truly say he's done it all and came out laughing in the end. He WAS the belly of the beast and those of us who loved his writings know that, whether or not they were "non-fiuction", they were always true to the life of a man who took no prisoners.He is the only person on my "must-meet" list that I would have killed to meet.

Here's to never saying no to life and grabbing the bull by the horns. The fat is truly in the fire now, and only we will determine how this strange and queer trip turns out.

R.I.P. Hunter S. Thompson

i'm not quite able to vebalize how i am affected...but maybe the visual of a spring that just keeps recoiling over and over...that would be about right...

his sharing of his views of the american dream was a sharp dose of reality packaged in a thinking man's verbal tool box...

i had recently caught a rerun of charlie rose on pbs...he was interviewing him...hunter spoke of his packrat tendencies...and that he had a trunk full of correspondences dating back to when he was a teenager...then all of a sudden he drifted...his body position changed...lost track of the conversation...mentioned his gradson...out of the blue...weird...yes...but acceptable...after all it was hst...but later on charlie rose got him to mention something about his hand shaking...it seems he had been sick...neurologically...for awhile...but he would not get into detail...

being who he is...was...is...could he have done any differently...i'm not him...but i'm sure he couldn't...

enjoy your next cycle hst........

after reading fear and loathing every night out had an edge to it and a morning after "bad craziness" so hilarious, poor anita what hell will he reek on the other side?? with respect H.S.T

I can't help hoping he left an explanation somewhere, because if he could justify his action then maybe I could accept it.

As it is, I can't. I'm angry. Why? He played russion roulette enough with his life... maybe a sudden whim to see if the bullet was in the chamber, a what-the-fuck if it happens, it happens, kind of situation?

I'm reading a lot of great and affectionate tributes, and I feel them in my heart with all great sentiment, but what I really want to say is: you bloody fool. Checking out before your time. Maybe if that's what you really wanted, although I can't help thinking you are somewhere now cursing your own stupidity. Maybe you were sick of being right all the time. Maybe it was a bad trip. It's certainly one I wish I wasn't on with you...

Dammit, Dammit, Dammit.

what possibly to say.
hunter is dead, and it feels as though a close friend has passed. i'm only echoing what others here have said. where do i go from here? when someone defines an outlook for you, when someone has such a significant impact on your ideals and attitudes, and ultimately loses faith - where does that leave me???? a selfish perspective, but i feel as though i've lost faith in something i was convinced was true. hunter, oh hunter, how could you have done this? i don't blame him , but at the same time a part of me has died with him. suicide??? unbelievable, so completely incongruous with everything he represented. oh god, it's all very wrong.

who wants to get old and sick anyway...

What reasons does the exalted and highly respected genius owe us?
None. Accept the finishment of the Good Doctor's earthish troddings
as you accepted his work, openly, with the spirit of adventure, the
sinew of triumph and the grainishness of the horrors of reality.
Those among us selfish enough to judge this man's final action may
do well to shove themselves from the bedclothes of their gumdrop dreams
and realize that, as humans, we're subject to unknowable suffering and
incomprehensible pain. The best among us are equipped with an
indomitable spirit; when inconceivable suffering befalls the strong of
heart, the heart prevails, the suffering wilts. Celebrate the triumph
of spirit, the righteous deeds and the fuck-all will of the greatest
American Experientialist of our time.

Has anyone checked to see if Hunter was going through a depression recently, clinical depression? Or had he heard from his doctors that he had a life-threatening terminal illness, that we and the media didn't know about? One doesn't just kill oneself for no reason. ANyone know? Email me

I will miss him ... BIG HUG for Juan, Jen, Willam and Anita... who never be able to fill the hole left in there lives by the man in spite of the myth and legend attached to his life.

I just found out and dread having to break the news to my husband when he wakes up. Hunter was a hero to both of us, how in hell will we get through the next four years? Maybe he knew something we don't, that's a terrifying thought. It it wasn't 7:30 in the morning I would raise a glass to him - maybe I will anyway, God knows he would have. Rest in peace, dear Gonzo.

I am deeply saddened, res ipsa loquitor.

The only thing surprising to me is that it took this long for him to do it. Not unexpected considering his world view.

My God, He will be sadly missed.His savage voice in the wilderness was an inspiration to us all. RIP HST

Shocking HST dead, no, but suicide yes. He could go at any moment, but I figure it would have been accidental. There has to be something behind this.

I just found out about this a few minutes ago and am feeling the same raw emotions as everyone else here who loved and admired HST- shock, disbelief, anger, and a great sense of loss.

I did read in an interview Hunter did a few months ago that he had fallen lasr year some time and broken and/or severely injured his back and had gone through a couple surgeries and was dealing with extreme pain- the article made it sound like he was over the worst of it but he was 67 years old and . . .

Well, fuck all that, 'eh?

His reasons were his business and if anyone earned the right to check-out on their own terms it was the Good Doctor.

I think I'm going to skip work today and find some strong drink... Goodbye Hunter and thank you for sharing your gift with us for as long as you did.

A reason? An explanation? The pit in my stomach asks for neither. That horrible paragraph was the first thing that caught my eye when I stepped outside to pick up this morning's paper..and to think I was bitching because I had to walk through the wet grass to pick it up! I don't understand why and maybe I/we never will. "It's the land of the brave and the home of the free, where the less you know, the better off you'll be." (wz) DAMN! ...yet another kick to the chest...Well Doc, thanks SO MUCH for the ride. Guess this is where you're letting us off. My deepest sympathies to your family & close friends...

Denial, anger, rage, bittersweetness...the guy was so good and had so much to say. And we are lucky he said it all!! From his dispatches from SA in the early 60's to his posts on ESPN.com.

The suicide, and not a Ducatti, is disturbing. The man idolized not Hemingway, but Faulkner...and Faulkner hated the idea of suicide. I guess I can answer HST's question...where were you when the fun stopped? watching the news at 7:30 a.m. February 21, 2005. SELAH!

Genius + High octane insight was never going to fizzle out. Heres to the loss of another great mind. Keep on raising hell. HST!

I was so overjoyed to find a few years ago that HST had a "blog" of sorts on ESPN page 2, and I quickly became an avid reader. Only 6 days ago on ESPN Page 2 he came out with Shotgun Golf, an ostensibly plausible cross of chipping to a green and skeet shooting. There was something about this story that was a bit unhinged (even for Hunter), his usual story being about fleecing high-rollers on football point-spread bets. "And green money moving around the room, it is righteous.." What's more, the game he missed reporting on was the Superbowl itself! Perhaps some doc told him he wouldn't survive until the next football season. Perhaps it was an innocent Shotgun Golf accident. Out with a BANG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHAT THE FUCK HUNTER ????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!!!!!!!!!!!

No more columns, no more of Hunter experiences (which I never), no more books, nothing. A weird day, the weirdest of days.

Goes away a man often copied but never equalled, novelist, journalist, poet, master of extreme words and situations. Wishes to Anita and others with loss.

Mahalo - we shall walk on a road of bones.

I guess there is some crap up with which even the old Gonzo Journalist, himself will not put. Would that all the "mainstream" clown journalists follow his example!

" Let us hope that the whores of evil no longer loiter on the doorsteps of your path, beckoning you into the brothel of despair-
And that here and after you may present them with the most ridgid manifestations of a firm and manly will.
AD ASTRA PER ASPERA "

" Seven dogs went into the wilderness-
Five came back-
Three died of guinea worm-
The rest died from you-
Hunter S. Thompson "

HST got me through some tough times. A 20 year old Canadian with dreams of changing a small piece of the world in Belize City in 1990. Terrified, culture shocked, too big of a braggart to turn back. Almost paralyzed with fear in this new seemingly unforgiving place. A friend sent me on my way with a copy of The Curse of Lono, my first introduction to Gonzo. I read and reread that book until the covers wore off. A few years later I almost got a tattoo of the Gonzo Fist and Dagger, but bailed out at the last minute. Now I kind of wish I hadn't. Maybe I hadn't learned anything about courage at all from Thompson. Maybe I thought I would regret getting that tattoo one day. If I had, maybe it would have ended up being a reminder that a man who exemplified crazy strength, stamina, and liberal tenets that should be status quo, and out and out balls to bones good times, up and killed himself. None of us know why he did it. Maybe he was sick, or what ever it was he did it for his own good reasons and under his terms. He had the courage to end his life the way he lived it, in a blast.

Someone pass the Wild Turkey. He'll be missed.

Well, Heaven will be more fun, but Earth will be sadder for a long while. One consolation is the outpouring of kind words and fond memories that will follow his whipsong life. Godspeed, you great gentle man.

Hunter - now joins the timeless ranks - no more marginalization - no more aging poet - no more inept rambling of unformed madness - this was no cowardly act - but a calculated decision to stop the erosion of age and the future decay of this legacy - time is a master and needs to be dealt with - his place as iconic madman will now transcends the pains of withered old man - perhaps there is more to the story than meets the eye - the withered old body giving way to a slow decay and his glimpse into the void carried by a silver bullet seemed a valid exit strategy in the classic style of Steadman pen and ink-
Robert

"There he goes. One of God's own prototypes. Some kind of high powered
mutant never even considered for mass production. Too weird to live,
and too rare to die. " H.S.T.

You've read all of his stuff, but you call him fearless. The man coined the term "fear and loathing." He was afraid, afraid of everything that society was becoming, despite its best intentions. If he did commit suicide (which at this point is unclear... think about how often he messed with guns while drinking or drugged up), it should be no surprise to fans. He displayed suicidal thoughts often in his writing (reference the intro to The Great Shark Hunt) and modeled his life after Hemingway. Like Hemingway, he became reclusive--Woody Creek was his Ketchum, Idaho (where Hemingway killed himself).

It's all I can do to keep from crying.

Well, like most folks here I can and can't believe it. I can believe that he's dead. Jesus, it's amazing that he was still around at all. However, I can't believe that he offed himself. What a rat-bastard thing to do. For years he's been a kind of beacon for so many. He was able to put your thoughts and feelings into his words in such a way that it felt like you were a part of his process. It's a sad goddamn thing that we go through now. I keep waiting to hear that it's a hoax. His words will roll on and, if history is any indication, gain speed as they encounter countless other souls who need to hear them, as I needed to hear them. I would say "May he rest in peace" But I don't think that resting was his style.

Hunter S. Thompson was the reason I became a journalist. On Saturday, I persuaded my photographer friend to do a Fear & Loathing photo shoot. I packed up all my Hunter books and a few drawings I've done (basically ripping off Ralph Steadman), and we sat down to take stills from the Fear and Loathing DVD. The previous day, I had loaned The Rum Diary to a friend. Every time I read any of his writing, it send a freh stab wound of inspriation through me. He was the only person in the world I hoped to one day meet. The inspiration is not gone, because the words are still there. See ya in hell, buddy. It's where all the good music is anyway.
Una, Ireland.

Truly a black-armband day for HST..Kudos for having the balls to go out on his terms much like his writing.

That rat-bastard killed himself - shit. This is truly a sad day. No chance left for salvation.

Hunter lived a life that we fans are all jealous of.

He was amazing and splendid.
My mom called me at 12 while I was still sleeping. I stayed up too late last night talking on AIM. She said her usual hello, how are you? and then told me she had bad news but that Hunter S. Thompson had committed suicide. I was shocked (not that he would kill himself but that he was dead and I didn't get to say goodbye)... I responded ," Well now that football seasons over I guess he wanted to just get outta this hell hole." She said ,"You know... I thought the same thing."

I just can't believe it. Just last week, a guy at work saw the HST book on my desk and asked me about him. It was great turning him on to Hunter. I told him about how I got the Rolling Stone Mag back in the early 70's at college and read part one of Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas and was awestruck. Couldn't wait for part 2. Then I realized the Hell's Angels book I read earlier was by the same author. I've been a rabid fan ever since. I can't beleive it was suicide; just some weird accident playing russian roulette... or maybe he had a terminal disease and did do the deed. I don't know. It sucks so bad. We should be happy we had him this long, with that lifestyle. Godspeed Hunter, we love you still no matter what dammit. (sniff)

This really sucks. HST was awesome. Why do the great writers have to commit suicide? Why are great artists so disenchanted and politicians so content with themselves? This really doesn't make any sense. Time to re-read the HST collection and get a grip.

How could this happen? hst? why? how could you leave us after all youve inspired in us? did you not know how much we needed your words? how will i be inspired now? you truely were reason to write. all i can say is i cant wait to get where you are. rip hst

Nobody durst call this man a coward. HST had been plagued by serious physical problems, that much we know; the rest is misty, which is no doubt the way he wanted it. I can think of ten people (of greater, but less valuable, fame and fortune) who had it all and still contemplated the bullet, once waylaid with similar body trouble. It changes your ability to live. Maybe that wasn't the whole story, but had to be a factor. Checking out Hemingway-style is no longer considered cool, but have you noticed what IS?

A world without HST is a much, much darker one, especially considering all the shitheels that are still alive. But I have to say that when I at last heard he'd done it himself, I relaxed some. At least he went out on his own terms.

Yeah, I'm pissed that he's gone, and can't believe it, and we need him more than ever now, but he gave his all to the public for about 40 years, and he doesn't owe us a goddamn thing. Res ipsa loquitur.

RIP, Doctor. May you be free of the torments that harried you so in this world. But what those things did to you made the rest of us stronger.

I may be out of touch but I'm still waiting to hear whether it was s suicide. All I've heard is self-inflicted gunshot and there was no note.

We know he liked to play with guns.

I'm waiting to hear it from his friend the sherrif.

People are saying he's a coward because he's just dumped a whole load of pain and suffering on his family with this action - if it's a suicide as reported.

And in this regard, he is.

Hunter Thompson was a third rate writer at best and his passing will only increase teh value of the written word.

Guy A.

now that's a minority view

well, nothing wrong with minority views if he can explain it more fully. Otherwise it's just contrarian.

Maybe he means that his books will fetch more on eBay

i am very glad to have found his works at an early age.

Obviously republican with no knowledge of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness...

After reading all of the great things written by everyone, i feel sick and i want to cry. I discovered HST when i was about 14. He was a giant influence on the way i perceive the world around me. He almost seemed invincible to me. Im going to miss that grizzled old bastard. I want to thank him for helping me be who i am. His writing truly changed my life.

Hunter Thompson, GOD DAMN YOU!!!

why why why.

i know it's bad out there but it always seemed a little safer...saner, with you out there.

good bye.

Good God Man this is about the total Amerixan Man of truisms and embracing of the expericience of fighting for ones own right to live for the right cause; be it the underdog ;your right tochemical mind expansion or the right to drape yourself in the Amerixan flag and shoot or blow up peecocks and grab strange adult film strars nipples.

you guys prob know all this, but I am shocked and stunned by this news, as you all are, and wrote this for a friends website, feel i should put it where people care, excuse the borrowed quotes, its for people that might not know him.


What the fuck?.......Hunter S Thompson dead? that i could understand.................but suicide???????

Hunter S Thompson, one of the greatest writer/journalists ever to have lived, and certainly one of the most important to live in our lifetime, has taken his own life, and for some reason, i feel i should mention it here.

to anyone that hasn't yet sampled his unique brand of incredibly funny, insanely cutting, and pure, Gonzo journalism, you are missing out on one of the only true (and the truest) pioneers of modern writing. I urge you to rectify this, before the fear and loathing, of which he wrote so outspokenly, consumes us all, and blinds us to the corrupt swine who peddle it. He lived as he wrote, a champion for justice (true justice, not the filthy perversion enforced upon us by politicians and 'lawmakers') and for truth, of which the greatest of all, was a man's entitlement to live as he wish, without intrusion or interference, and, if he choose, reside firmly in the "too much fun club"

In my humble opinion, when compared to HST's work, very few authors have the right to call themselves a journalist, as noone writes with the whirlwind of outrage and pain which he somehow transforms into something of enormous, and lasting value, and noone sees it their duty, as he did, to speak the unfiltered truth.

It is about here where I should be writing of how we wish Dr Hunter Stockton Thompson to rest in peace, but in his case, it would be a futile excercise, and prove that we've not understood a word. Wherever he is now, I hope he's happy, and know he's giving God a run for his money, in the way only Raoul Duke knows how.

He not taught us with his written word, but his social and political activism against injustice was the stuff of legend, and an example to anyone and, hopefully, everyone, and always reminded us of E. Bourke's words, that:

"THE ONLY THING NECESSARY FOR THE TRIUMPH OF EVIL, IS FOR GOOD MEN TO DO NOTHING"

Dr Hunter S Thompson 1939-2005

I know this shouldn;t matter much in my life becasue the man did care about me at all. A piece of me died last night. I woke up today and settled into work for the daily grind and to read a news piece or 5. Iraq bomb kills 27... Bush getting harrassed by European nation about Iraq... thousands rally in Beruit... Author Hunter S. thompson dies at the age of 67 from a fatal gun shot wound to the head. The bastard did it. The reports are to early if it was intentional or not. Still the trigger got pulled and a part of me died. I didn't even get into reading books until I picked up Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Watching the movie motivated me to read the book. It would be my first of many HST literary romps. Yes the man, his life and his lifestyle intrigued me. The influence on me is more than I realize or would admit. I even, to any degree, emulate a man that would rather throttle me instead of covet any friendship? He struck a cord. Not many have in the 31 years I've been breathing air. He was the living legend. He existed and I would try and match him as best I could with living. Now another influence in my life is gone. No more creativity from his mind. No more gonzo. No more King of Fun. Damn I lost something. I lost HST.
Then we don't know what the man was going through. Was he in pain? Was he hurting? He didn't seem like the type to take his own life. He liked to live life. At least thats how he came across. Even as wreckless as he was he never had suicidal tendencies. Did he? The man who looked for the American Dream died in the American Nightmare. Many things would and should be answered when more comes out of this. I'd love to lean towards the accident but something tells me it may have been different. Time will tell. He is gone that is all we know at this moment...

Noooo

If HST were to fake his own death, and then read the way people reacted, he would most certainly put a bullet in his brain then. This tough motherfucker didn't take his life so whiny ball-less hipsters would burn candles and have "Rum" readings for a week straight, Kleenex in hand. Like William Cooper, Thompson had no filters or blinders on which to view the world. He knew how fucked up and scripted modern life has become. He knew we as people could never be truly free as long as we were being spoon fed bullshit every minute of our waking life. Anyone that acts suprised or says it was a chicken shit way to go is as naive to his own life just as much as he or she was naive to Hunters. Grow some fucking guts and get over it, nothing in you is dead and don't act like it is. How else would you like to see him go....lung cancer? he is still alive to me..

What a perfect bloody hell for HST: to be eulogized by thousands of emotional morons.

(The Good News: he finally got to use his gun to shoot something significant. And he didn't miss!)

"when the going gets weird, the weird turn Pro" HST

the Curse of Lono is finally fufilled...the greedheads and swine can rejoice...i can almost hear the Tin Man with his gravelly chortle pulling his hand out of the Shrub's ass for a second so he can squirt some Iraqi's blood onto the corners of his rusted mouth, enabling that shark like smile....fuck them...i refuse to allow this Horror to drown me in the Kingdom of Fear

a giant has fallen in the Wilderness...none of the "legit" Citizens will do more than a token Notice...but the freaks,the outlaws,the strange, the thinkers, the Doomed....they will notice.

among the Tribe of the Weird there will be much Lamenting and consuming of peyote buttons as we Spirit Walk and rail against the gods as to why our Shaman has been taken from U.S.

the gods won't Answer, of course...they never do, and now there is one less Voice to put our muddied feet on the Path...one less Visionary to rub our noses in the fact that the Emperor is ALWAYS naked...you can almost hear the cackling from Hell as Nixon jerks off violently in small souled glee...

when most of the hippies that had tuned in,turned on and dropped out shed their tye dye clothes for the yuppie suits and BMW's of Reagan's 80's...becoming the fascist neo-Cons, epitome of all they had railed against, Hunter stood firm on the slippery muck of Principle and Truth...spewing the Words that helped tear away the Veil of Corporate propaganda and hauling us out of the rut induced by cowardly, politically correct, right-think.

he was not the kind of man that burst thru a concrete wall spitting dust and looking good doing it, he was more the guy who watched that Freak consume the room, and then picked up all the loose change on the floor after the bar fight...but he always "stomped on the terra", leaving indelible boot prints on the necks of our Spirits as he gnawed on the Skull of Truth with his very own teeth.

so wash down that mescaline with a quart of Wild Turkey, spark a joint and wait for it all to kick in...give the good Doctor the mother of all Wakes that he deserves....

me...i'll be wondering who is going to feed the mojo-wire with the flotsam of America's id, and wailing and gnashing my teeth in the realization that half a continent away in the quiet snows of Owl Farm, the peacocks are crying....


30

Don't know how I got here, but when I saw "selah" I knew I must be in the right place. Just more than overcome about HST; had to look away from CNN et al--supposed "real journalists" waxing on in a meaningless way about someone they consider a freak or anomalie. Thanks for letting me read all of this....."When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro"--had that on my screen saver at work a few years ago--well, the going's done got weird, and now I don't know how to turn pro--the world is a colder, sadder place.

You idiots. All those who say "why, oh why was it suicide?" etc have no insight into what Hunter S Thompson was about. What could be expected from the same lame retards who miscontrue what his writing is all about?

Get over yourselves. Suicide is perfectly consistent with Thompsons beliefs and actions all through his life. If you don't get that, you don't get anything about him.

Go watch your Johnny Depp movies.

Hunter S. Thompson saw life in a unique way. Perhaps he did represent the darker side of our beings. Perhaps he saw things in such a unique way that he felt he had a responsibility to get that message out. His works will become read and reread, dissected for generations to come. Perhaps he had to climb upon his own cross and take his life so as to enlighten us. It worked 2,000 years ago. Perhaps, in some small way, Hunter S. Thompson in his passing will fulfill yet another scripture which has not been revealed. Perhaps.

So the good Doctor finally said "fuck it, let's go". Who are we to pass judgement when all we really know of him is what we imagined him to be? We should all give a man of such acerbic wit and laser-sharp intelligence respect with regards to his choice of life and death. Hunter never backed away from either, despite what some may think. He fought the good fight and was true to himself always. Our loss of him cannot be calculated and America has lost one of its finest citizens and social commentators.Vale Hunter. Vale. We'll miss you.

The news of Hunter's death hit me like a ton of bricks. I found out about 7:30 p.m. after my wife brought the paper in.
Hunter was my idol, and in many ways, my mentor even though I never met him.
I switched my major to journalism my junior year in college after I read the Great Shark Hunt. I've managed to carve out a pretty good living for myself working as a journalist but I never would have sat down at a keyboard to write if it wasn't for Hunter.
I never tried to copy Hunter's writing style. I simply respected the man too much. But his view on politics and how he wrote about them made me want to be a political journalist.
I always dreaded this day. I knew Hunter's lifestyle would eventually get the better of him. But I never dreamed it would be suicide that did him in. I thought he was just too tough.
I always told my friends to cherrish Hunter while he was with us because he would be gone before we knew it. I kept my end of the bargin. I relished his work and sucked up all of the news about him that I could find.
Now the day has finally came and I'm more sad than anything.
It breaks my heart that one of the greatest writers of the 20th century died not wanting to live.
But the world is a better place because Hunter S. Thompson was in it.
Thank you Hunter.

who among us really knows why he did it?
no one.
its another un-answerable question he put to the test, to the extreme.
he was and still is my idol and i feel a great loss, but why blame him?
besides it is not our place to question a doctor of fucking journalism. GO. GET DRUNK, GET HIGH GET TWISTED BE WIERD AND REMEMBER HIS LEGACY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Let me explain why the good Doktor is still very much alive.

He achieved stardom decades ago by breaking out of a tired and constricted form of journalism. He and a number of others trailblazed a path called the New Journalism.

What they did then differs little from what we see today in New Media: a break from the predictable and ideologically stunted media that distrusts new voices.

In reading all the media obits today, I was struck by how all of them focused on HST's drug use, his foul language and shocking behavior, etc. Granted it's all true, but it's a shame that he's remembered for such pointless antics.

I choose to ignore the drugs and craziness now because as I got older I saw he'd become a caricature of himself, unable to grow, to keep up with change in our culture.

He was not the greatest American writer, but he was, at one particular period, the right man for the right job.

How many of us can claim the same?

Sure, sure good old gun loving Hunter leaving your brains on the ceiling for your son to clean up.

I heard on the radio this morning while still in bed "Famous American author dead" and knew at that instant it was Hunter...but I was just shocked that he committed suicide. To the person who said it was true to his beliefs, that is totally wrong.

I've read he was depressed about not being able to get out of the house because of his medical problems...not sure if I believe that either, but it doesn't matter now.

Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail was the first book I ever shoplifted, when I was about 14 probably. I still have that copy...reading that book made me look at everything differently. I'm a better person for coming into contact with the Doc.

Mahalo Hunter...

I've been reading all the comments and can't help but wonder one thing: Was Hunter murdered? It seems that time and again, writers that have taken on the Bush Administration and its cronies have met with the same end: "suicide by firearm". Author J. T. Hatfield, author of Bush biography "Fortunate Son", was found dead of a gunshot wound in a hotel and so was Gary Webb, a reporter who chronicled the Bush family's entanglement with drugs and the CIA. Hunter S. Thompson's antipathy towards the whole Bush clan was well known and there are more than enough instances of the vindictiveness of that crowd.

Nobody is addressing the CAUSE of Hunter's suicide, and we should be.

Was he depressed recently? Was in encountering a late life clinical depression deep dark mood whose pain was so deep that the only way out of that pain was to cut off that pain, in other words, stop the pain, shoot himself? This is what Hemingway did. IS this what Hunter did? Someone, please, answer this in the media. HE wasn't a coward to go out this way. It was the ONLY WAY he could manage it. Understand.

Hoka Hey Hunter Thompson. To the man, the only man, who could corral so many others with only his words. Hunter Thompson was a warrior among the likes of Crazy Horse. And tonight they are smoking the red willow among the aspens. HE IS NOT DEAD IN US.

Serbian fans paid homage today.

The Good Doctor will explain himself eventually.

Mahalo Hunter

What can I say? I was first turned on to HST after reading Kurt Vonnegut's piece about Hunter Thompson Disease. Many readings of many of his books over the years really made me think about things.
I can't call the man a coward: I don't know what happened or what his life was like. I say we give him the benefit of the doubt.
It's been many years since I first read his work, and I'm a different man now, but I'd like to say "Thanks Hunter."
I rarely drink, but I'm going to go out on the patio and have a beer and about half a pack of Marlboros in his honor.
Have a peaceful journey HST.

HST, "What Lured Hemingway to Ketchum?" (05/25/64):
"'We do not have great writers,' he explains to the Austrian in Green Hills of Africa. 'Something happens to our good writers at a certain age . . . You see we make our writers into something very strange . . . We destroy them in many ways.' But Hemingway himself never seemed to discover in what way he was being 'destroyed,' and so he never understood how to avoid it . . . So finally, and for what he must have thought the best of reasons, he ended it with a shotgun."

None of you have learnt anything from Hunter S. Thompson...

Would the Good Doctor's death really been any more acceptable or understandable if he had OD'd or come off a motorbike of fallen overboard from a boat involved in drug running off Florida just because we all have imagined this is how it would or should end? I doubt it.Hunter was an honourable man who stood his ground and fought the good fight to keep the bastards honest. In the end he kept himself honest too. I doubt whether the decision to kill himself was made lightly. He probably just weighed up the long term prognosis of continuing physical pain and its impact on him being able to live life to the full, and decided on the most honourable and honest way out.

We feel cheated and betrayed and heartbroken because he wasn't meant to go out like this, that we will no longer hear his unique voice in the wilderness,that there is no-one to replace him.

But I hope that wherever he is, Raoul is waiting with a line of coke and a joint on the burn.

The great Doctor is dead and we are all diminished by his passing.

Jane, I don't see any honour in suicide.
I am not coming to this from any sort of
religious judgement or morality stance.
You can only leave behind hurt and much
heartache for those who will mourn your
passing and bare the emotional scars an
event like this must cause.I feel for
his family much more than Hunter.

One thing yall gotta understand is we live and we die. period. there is no heaven or hell, get over it. hunter is not on his way anywhere, get over it. his ride is over. he had a good 67 years here and he done well. you gotta die someday, maybe 89 like arthur miller or 62 like Sandra Dee or 66 like Allen Ginsberg or 65 like Susan Sontag or 65 like Hunter. cant live forever and there aint no heaven or hell or groovy medicine men in the sky smoking dope. it's over everyone. get over it. and start doing your own little dance and make this world a better place before you knock off and die. we all die. it's just death. no big deal. Hunter chose his way to die. the pain was too much, he could no longer bear it, more power to him. his body is no longer in pain, his conciousness ...erased. DELETE.

by the way, everyone, i think we should stop calling this kind of act a suicide. he didn't suicide himself. he stopped the pain. there's a difference. he ended his life his way, DIY deathway, rather than sit in hospital as old man with tubes in nose. this is NOT suicide. get over it. it is a respectable way to put an end to one's own life. get over the judo-christian bullshit that this was suicide. it was not. he did not kill himself. he outed himself. he closed the door on his own life, and more power to him.

I'd like to say one thing about one of my favorite people before I go to bed. I hope Thompson is kicking the shit out of Nixon in Hell right now. And thus so paving the way for Bush II.

Amen Brother!

It's sad knowing that he's gone.
But I guess Nixon's had his time to rest in peace.
N.E.R.D anyways...

dave hume, you are an idiot. GET OVER YOURSELF

What a champion for Lisl Auman!

Hunter S. Thompson: Booze, Bile and Betrayal

I come not to mourn Hunter Thompson, but to honor him...

I first became exposed to Thompson as a teenager in the mid '70's, reading "Rolling Stone" (this while it still had a measure of relevance), looking forward to his totally demented National Affairs columns. Because of Richard Nixon's naked corruption and abuse of power, they were times of great political cynicism. Thompson's writings reinforced my own sense of outrage, betrayal and cynicism, as outrage, betrayal and cynicism were integral parts of his stock in trade. Hunter Thompson's viewpoint molded my adolescent political awareness, some of which remains to this day...

I moved on to his books, first "Hell's Angels" followed by "Fear and Loathing" and "Campaign Trail", enthralled by the power of the language and the wild, intense imagery. In those days, Hunter Thompson was a hero. My friends and I would take "Fear and Loathing" trips. I did massive doses of LSD, just to see what would happen. One of the reasons I moved to the Caribbean (where I have remained for over twenty years) was because of Hunter Thompson's descriptions of the free and decadent lifestyle.

I ended my acquaintance with Hunter Thompson in the '80's with "Shark Hunt", which I considered somewhat weaker than his earlier work but to this day keep near my bed and occasionally pick up for a few minutes before I sleep. In recent years, I would periodically check out his ESPN work but found it to be rather limp. There were the usual vitriolic elements and it sounded like great fun, but behind it was a hollowness, a lack of substance. He had become like a formerly great saxophone player who could play but one note and then only loudly. Hunter Thompson's work had become like cotton candy, spun from bile and bitterness. To my great disappointment, Hunter S. Thompson had become a bore.

Though the man was certainly not living his life to meet my expectations, the end of his ability to inspire was, for me, a death of sorts. And the death of a man's heroes (either in body or spirit) is the death of his innocence. In an ideal world we should always have someone to look up to, but life also teaches us (if we are observant) that we do not live in an ideal world.

Hunter Thompson's lonely death is the product of a crude logic. In the end, I believe he reached the conclusion that he had nothing of artistic value left to offer. Betrayed by his mind and body, he reached the point where the only betrayal that remained was the ultimate betrayal of himself. And in this final act of betrayal is a sense of ultimate artistic integrity.

Hunter has been taking a hiding on our behalves for many years. Maybe now it is time for those of us truly inspired by him, to start taking our own risks, instead of safely living them through his pages.

I want to be a cafe racer, not a fucking graphic designer....

"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. That is why God made fast motorcycles, Bubba...."

Hunter S. Thompson
The Song of the Sausage Creature

I hear his ashes are to be shot from a canon....

NOW WE KNOW.... THE REST OF THE STORY...


After Thompson's suicide, attorney saw clues

By David Abel,
Boston Globe
February 22, 2005

If one of Hunter S. Thompson's last wishes comes true, the body of the late maverick journalist will be cremated this week and his ashes blasted from a cannon across his sprawling ranch in Woody Creek, Colo.

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That will be the extent of Thompson's funeral, as he told friends and family, said George Tobia Jr., a Boston-based entertainment lawyer who has represented the author for the past 15 years. Tobia said he has spent a few hours every week, often in the wee hours of the day, fielding requests from and chatting up the man who created gonzo journalism.

In a phone interview yesterday, Tobia said only in retrospect does it makes sense that the 67-year-old author sat in his kitchen Sunday afternoon, stuck a .45-caliber handgun in his mouth, and killed himself while his wife listened on the phone and his son and daughter-in-law were in another room of his house. His wife had no idea what had happened until she returned home later.

The former Rolling Stone magazine contributor, known for his self-styled, freewheeling writing, chronicled the downfall of President Nixon and authored books including "Hell's Angels" and "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas."

Tobia, 43, who said he spoke to Thompson at least five times in the last week, as recently as the day before he killed himself, said his client and friend did not leave a note, only conversations and obscure directions he had issued to friends and family in recent days.

"This was definitely not spur of the moment," said Tobia, who plans to fly to Colorado today to help carry out Thompson's wishes. "He arranged to have things dealt with, and he wanted his family close by, but he didn't want anyone to know -- he didn't want anyone to try to stop him. In a weird way, he wanted it to be, I think, a celebration."

Was there anything specific that led Thompson, the model for a character in the comic strip "Doonesbury," to commit suicide? Tobia said he did not know, but noted Thompson has written about suicide and talked about it with friends.

The decision, he said, had nothing to do with the reelection of George W. Bush or the current trend in national politics, which provided a certain grist for Thompson's mill. Nor did he have significant financial problems. With his land, archives, royalties, and other valuable possessions, Tobia said, Thompson's estate is worth millions of dollars.

The best explanation, perhaps, is that in recent months Thompson had chronic pain from back surgery and an artificial hip. He also broke his leg on a recent trip to Hawaii and was limping, which made it difficult for him to travel.

"He didn't want to waste away," Tobia said. "He did not want to exist as an invalid or as someone who needed constant care. It wouldn't suit his sense of self."

The one clue, in retrospect, that something changed recently was Thompson's decision that it wasn't so important that his papers and archives be sold to the highest bidder, money that would help him in later years. Last week Thompson told friends and Tobia -- one of the trustees of his estate -- that it was more important his archives not be sold piecemeal and that they find the proper home, such as at a university.

"There was no one thing you would point to and say, 'Oh . . . he's going to kill himself,' " Tobia said. "It wasn't clear last week suicide was imminent, but now it adds up."

"I was numb last night," he said yesterday. "But when that settles in, the phone calls, things start to come back, and things begin to make sense. . . . We all had hints, but none of us had the full picture."

The two planned to work together on the third volume of Thompson's letters, Tobia said. Just the faxes Tobia received over the years, he said, stack up about 5 feet high. There was also the unpublished novel, "Prince Jelly Fish," which Thompson hoped to have published.

Tobia first met Thompson while working on a benefit for the estate of Jack Kerouac.

"I represent the estates of many eminent writers like Jack Kerouac," Tobia said. "But [Thompson] was alive; the others, I never knew. I got to know him. I read him in college. Forming a relationship with him was a dream come true."

© Copyright 2005 Globe Newspaper Company.

Earth receive an honored guest
William Yeats is laid to rest
Let the Irish vessel lie
Emptied of its poetry

Time that is intolerant
Of the brave and innocent
and indifferent in a weak
to a beautiful physique

Worships language and forgives
Everyone by whom it lives;
Pardons cowardice, conceit,
Lays its honors at their feet

Time that with this strange excuse
Pardoned Kipling and his views
and will pardon Paul Claudel
Pardons him for writing well

W.H. Auden In Memory of W.B. Yeats

Was there a note left?

To all you "abandoned" suckfish,

I am so tired of reading all this pathetic "how could you?" bullshit.
The man is gone, and he's not coming back.
Stop pitying yourself. Stop waiting for a new hero to emerge from the ashes.

You are the hero.

This generation has too long been dependant on a stronger man's will. It's time now to move on, move out, and get things done. Tighten up those boot straps, Bubba. There's an entire, fucked up world out there that's begging for action. Let's not worry about how Hunter died, but rather how he lived.

Take action.

Hunter didn't abandon you; he's only just removed your training wheels.

Res Ipsa Loquitur,

--Gray

Hey all,

Thanks for leaving your memories. I am impressed and appreciative of how many of you have reached out. I am posting details and updates about the suicide, the funeral, and all the other details as they emerge on my site
www.iamcorrect.blogspot.com

It is meant to be a clearing house for all curious who don't have time to surf a thousand articles.

Thanks and take care,
Lono

You say you're surprized that HST took his own life? He did in exactly the same manner as his hero Ernest Hemingway at around the same time in his life. Like Papa, his writing had declined with age and substances, and he had begun to live a solitary and seemingly desultory life. I don't want to say that I "saw this coming" but I'm not surprized.

Hey Bubba. Celebrate Hunter's life, don't obssess over his death. He fought long and hard to keep the bastards honest and he kept honest to himself right up to the end, no matter what any of us think, and no matter how painful his passing is. It's all part of the Proud Highway that was his life and will be his legacy. Remember what Hunter wrote and why he wrote. Perpetuate his definitive voice through your own voices.Hunter deserves more than our self indulgent idolatry.

If Hume's globe posting is accurate, Thompson is still a terrible coward. Why not discuss this decision with family? Why. Because he was afraid, too.

Instead he shoots himself while his wife is on the phone !!!!!!! Oh that's love, baby? Oh yeah.

I think they all lost some respect for him at that moment. As usual it's a case of admire the work, despise the man. So be it. His choice.


PS Faulkner was his literary idol.

Do you have a link for the globe post, Temple?

Tom Wolfe's fine piece in the Journal is another reminder of the desire for recognition HST had always.

"In reading all the media obits today, I was struck by how all of them focused on HST's drug use, his foul language and shocking behavior, etc."

Perhaps the other, more timid, journalists finally got a chance to kick the man that dared to live their dreams for them. They had to be jealous of the freedoms HST earned with his clearly superior insights, writing abilities, and moral clarity (through the haze). He was a genuine genius that probably semed very arrogant to those inferior, mortal, non-peers. "the greedheads and swine can rejoice"

"I've read he was depressed about not being able to get out of the house because of his medical problems...not sure if I believe that either."

I was looking at images of Hunter over the last decade, and while he looked great in the late 90's, he really loked like crap lately. I've also been folowing his "ESPN/Page 2" column closely over the years and while he was never consistent (he seemed to contribute whenever he felt like it, or not), HE ALWAYS WROTE ABOUT THE SUPER BOWL. This year he didn't, very telling in my opinion.

He did share one last piece about sharing his "Shotgun Golf" brainstorm with Bill Murray in the middle of the night recently (dated February 5th), but it could have been in the can and pulled out and updated with the hockey reference. He does refer to last summer as the time of inspiration. The article is extremely easy to Google.

"Was Hunter murdered? It seems that time and again, writers that have taken on the Bush Administration and its cronies have met with the same end: suicide by firearm'."

Souinds very cynical -- and, unfortunatly, very logical. :-( He just finished a brand new book highly critical of Dubya (due out in August), coincidentally. Let's hope it makes it in the form he wished it -- if anyone would cover those bases, it would be HST. Maybe that's why he was offed...

"We will march on a road of bones."

RIP, HST -- YOU ARE MISSED.
CONDOLENCES TO ANITA AND JUAN.

Yeh, Gray, good point. The GLOBE story should be required reading by everyone here. HUNTER shot himself while talking on the phone with his wife, WTF?, and his son in the next room? double WTF?

In many ways, the guy was an asshole. So what if he could write well, he was pretty much fucked up as a human being. I think it's important to understand that. and like Gray said above, yes, get over it, folks, and now the training wheels are off, start peddaling your own bike. it's all uphill from here.

STORY HERE:

A guy who knew Hunter writes:

So there we were, eight or ten of us I think, hanging around and drinking with "Hunter S. Thompson, man!" And, as they would, Warren and Hunter got into a drinking contest -- sort of like watching a match between Ali and Frazier in their prime.

It went on and on long past the point where I could or would keep up. It was getting late and Andre announced to the assembled cross-eyed drunks, that he was giving us our last round. The regulars took him at his word, but Hunter had to push the envelope. Except with Andre there was no envelope. Just a polite, "Non."

The next thing I know there's a gun in Hunter's hand and three rounds into the ceiling of the bar. (Did I mention that there were apartments where people were sleeping above the bar?)

Then I think there was a blur of Andre, in suit and tie, coming over the bar with the mallet. Then more blurs and everybody is out on the street dragging a semi-conscious Hunter back down the alley mumbling something about getting his gun back. After that I don't remember much and, frankly, haven't thought all that much about Thompson in the three decades that have intervened.

This morning I think even less of him. Yesterday, it would seem, he left in the same way that he lived -- gun-crazy, thoughtless, self-obsessed and selfish to the last second. A gunshot suicide at home, leaving his wife and son to discover and deal with his ruined corpse and clean up the room. What a man

thanks Dave, I think that perspective may come to dominate after the shock and gushing are over: great, hugely influential writer and thinker, pretty crappy human

Some wonderful obits - the MSNBC one: "Prose laureate of the Age of Paranoia",has

Thompson, at 67, was the gonzo journalist who shot himself in the head with a handgun on Sunday. He was also what you get when you combine Murphy's Law and some hillbilly Calvinist preaching the doctrine of innate depravity. He believed every man had it in him to do wrong. He also believed that if something could go wrong it would. We were all doomed, to use one of his favorite words.

I also like to chew on little asian boys bum bum holes :D Because I know all

Sorry I didn't read the official Comment Policy. The previous Comment written by Temple Stark commenting- I also like to chew on little asian boys bum bum holes :D Because I know all - was not posted by the original Temple Stark but was posted by an imposter. I am that imposter. I read the comment Temple Stark wrote about Hunter being a coward and my emotion (and prejudice humour) got the better of me. I appologise to anyone who was offended by the remark and I swear never to do it again and urge the Webmaster to delete the entry. Long live Hunter through his works. For ever and ever.

I think this proves it. This is proof that the american dream really is fucked. And you iknow what that means? Savage Henry has cashed his check

Hunter Thompson was a self-indulgent, obnoxious, exceptionally irresponsible, crass, mentally disabled due to drug abuse, douchebag who was also a brilliant and entertaining writer.

But God, who would want to be such an asshole?

I guess not him anymore.

Isn't it amazing how some people have taken Hunter's suicide as an opportunity to belch bile, hatred and disaffection. Why bother? Who gives a damn whether he was an asshole or not. That part of him also made him a great writer and brilliant commentator on America.And there's not much of that happening folks. As a so-called asshole he managed to raise a decent son, marry a great woman and maintain some seriously loyal and loving friends. Who knows what he was like behind the public persona and who cares. Perhaps his decision to suicide when the family was around was a selfish, self absorbed act. Or maybe Hunter wanted to make sure that his family were around to take care of his death with love, care and decency. Perhaps he had faith in them to be strong enough to carry the load. I don't think Hunter was a coward. I just think he got to 67 years of age, his body had started giving up on him and he didn't want to spend the next 20 years shitting into a colostomy bag in some nursing home somewhere. He looked very ill in recent pictures and Who among us can really pass judgement or state unequivocably that we wouldn't do the same if we were in a similar situation. Hell, remember the guy through his work rather then judge him by his death.

>>sn't it amazing how some people have taken Hunter's suicide as an opportunity to belch bile, hatred and disaffection. Why bother? Who gives a damn whether he was an asshole or not.

Or take that on step further - who gives a damn about HST?

See there's both sides to that coin. That's where it comes from.

He was brilliant - at what he did. I also think he was completely yellow for going out the way he did; causing pain and suffering to family when he could have said "Guys, I'm in too much pain. Let me end my life, OK?"

Honestly,would permission from his family, or their prior knowledge, really make it any less painful? Get real. There's no touchy feely niceness about deciding to kill oneself and as you have pointed out several times HST was, according to your opinion, apparently not a touchy feely kind of guy. I would beg to differ on that point. And honestly, if you don't give a damn about Hunter S Thompson then why bother weighing into a discussion about his death? Why be so aggressive about his decision to suicide the way he did? It seems to me that lots of people would have accepted his suicide if it were via drugs because that's what we all thought would happen. Or worse, we secretly hoped would happen. What hypocrisy. His death has not been for the benefit of our bloody entertainment or to placate us of any unpleasantness or to fit into any preconceived ideas we might have had about the guy. He was obviously in pain so he exercised his right to do something about it. I'm just grateful for the 67 years of his life he was around, and the writing and slant on life that came out of it.

>> apparently not a touchy feely kind of guy

never said that (and if I did somewhere, I erred).

>>, ... if you don't give a damn about Hunter S Thompson

Never said that either, though I did say on a diff. thread I believe, that he really wasn't a part of my life at all. I felt the same way about Kurt Cobain, who's work I greatly admire.

>>Honestly,would permission from his family, or their prior knowledge, really make it any less painful? Get real

Well the idea there is, of course, that they could have talked him out of it. And if it came to it - at least they had some control, some exact understanding because he would have told them - and a proper goodbye. But he couldn't face that and that's cowardly.

Why am I being aggressive on the subject of suicide?

Simple: I really don't want people to think suicide is in any way heroic - because it's not.

I'm with a woman now whose boyfriend committed suicide - shot himself in the head, too. He'd just tried to smother her with a pillow but she escaped. She was running from her home when she heard the gunshot.

He had some back pain and some tax problems.

I drove back into town a couple hours later - and she and her boys had no place to stay. I let her and her two boys stay in my place across the road, because I could not imagine her having to stay at her place and she had nowhere else to go.

She - a very sweet person indeed - but she still has nightmares. Still trembles. Still can't stand to have a pillow over her face, even lightly. Still is haunted by the memory, which comes back at the oddest times.

Six years later.

It doesn't define who she is and it doesn't dominate her life at all, anymore. But it's there.

Suicide causes pain and suffering and is not heroic in any way.

Okay?

Well, it seems to me that your poor lady does let it define who she is and lets it dominate her life if she still has nightmares, flashbacks and hates having a pillow over her head six years later.... HST didn't try to take out anyone else in his personal decision, which is probably what surprised me the most. I'm sure he had a list. In the end, he obviously came to a point where he decided he didn't have anything more to say, to anyone, including his family. Whether you or I think that is a rotten place to get too, or is a cowardly cop-out, is ultimately irrelevant.More to the point, why should the choice to suicide have any reason at all to anyone but the person who chooses that option? Why did HST owe anyone an explanation. To make people feel better about his decision? Surely, the very act itself is an explanation. He'd had enough. Like Cobain. Personally, I think it took guts to understand that there was really nothing left to say or write and as both these things implicitely defined who HST was as a human being, living in some sort of Martha Stewart "live on my laurels til I die" style retirement was never going to be an option to a man like HST who always lived life on his own terms....I would think that through all the hurt and distress to his family and friends, that is something that they'd all agree on.He died like he lived. On his own terms... reckless, insane, out of control, over the top, and probably drug-fuelled. RIP HST. Love and mercy to his family.

Ruby I'm sorry you read that as "happens all the time." It is not an either / or. It still happens, infrequently, and it is still pain and suffering - illustrative of suicide's long-lasting effects. It used to be much worse.

And Ruby - you're just guessing about "it took guts to understand that there was really nothing left to say or write." You don't know. He could have done it on a whim. The way he did it was still a cowardly act as have explained much more eloquently than you have stated your belief.

I'm for assisted suicide, another distinction I did not rule out with my comments above. It's a complete decision, it is an explained and loving decision if there is unending pain or indignity. That is brave because it faces every question - and it causes less pain.


You're misguided and since - given the percentages and lack of evidence of empathy, so far - you will never achieve anything artistic yourself, perhaps you could off yourself now?

Now see how that logic - your logic - makes no sense? Anyone who commits suicide loses respect in the eyes of many; rich or poor, anonymous or famous.

You asked so I explained and you thought to say something worthless in reply. Ask more questions before shining a spotlight on your emotional numbness.

I have spent much of my adult life either entering,(not always by choice), or exiting various institutions,(mental, substance, committed). HST taught me couple things.
1) act as if
2) chloral hydrate ice cubes
3) better to fuck with than be fucked with, well most of the time
and more
imp. Blessed are the cracked for they shall let in the light.
and
All energy flows to the whim of the great magnet.
I haven't been committed or incarcerated since I began reading HST in 1997.
he lit a match and i took a bottle of hairnet to it
Thanx doc.
Tennessee

Temple, my vitriol towards HST comes from the same place as yours: glorifying suicide.

Whether or not that was his intention, by doing so with his poor wife on the phone the guy chose to make a singularly selfish and Godless act a grand old party and as such, created a nightmare even more hellish for his family for being forced to be involved.

I repeat, what an ASSHOLE that guy was.

Great writer though.

But, whatever, he can't be redeemed through his writing - stupid jerk.

Temple Stark despite what you think of HST you are swine nonetheless

So you obviously knew the man personally Dawn? Or are you just throwing your uneducated, ignorent OPINION into play?

Hey, reducing the debate to a personal attack. How irrelevant. I read Juan Thomsons statement that he thought that his father decided it was time to go and that he wasn't surprised by the method.He also said that the family may go ahead and shoot Hunter's ashes out of a cannon. How apt. How very Hunter. Seems like the family is coping just fine.Dawn, sounds like it is gonna be a grand 'ol party to me. And Temple, if you want to make it personal then if shacking up with a neurotic, self indulgent women playing the sytmpathy card ad nauseum does it for you, then that's fine. See, there are two sides to that coin.......

And further. The family's actual statement......In a statement, Thompson's widow and his son said: "Though we will miss him bitterly, we understand his decision. Let the world know that Dr. Hunter S. Thompson died with his glass full, a fearless man, a warrior."

You guys dont know fuck all about life, living, death or honour.

Hunter, consistent and honest to the end.

RIP HST

Hunter lived like he died.

Im not surprised he killed himself, in fact im glad he didnt sell out and die like a bird with a broken wing in a hospital.
The only question is... where is the treatise? where is the explanation... this is a man who put carbon paper behind his typewriter when he wrote letters since the age of 13...

HOW HUNTER S THOMPSON SHOULD HAVE DIED
First off let me say that the Irony that HST passed away on the same day as Gidget is not lost on me, The Gods can be so Cruel! But Gidget is not the cultural Icon I am here to discuss. No it is a man who cheated death so many times it defies any logical explanation, no not the Inimitable HST but Evel Knievel. It is of my Opinion that this is how HST should have gone out. 1st he should of declared that Evel failed in his attempt to Jump the Grand Canyon on a Jet Powered Motorcycle, and that only he Hunter S Thompson had the Balls, Willpower and Fortitude to actually accomplish the Task. He then should have had his own Reality TV series, where he hung out in a Bike shop and personally supervised the construction of his own Super Rocket Powered Motorcycle and Pal'd around with the Boys cracking Jokes and Talking Shop. Then in a Huge Mass Spectacle on Presidents Day. Dressed in Flashy White Leathers with a Big Red Gonzo Fist on the back and looking Dashing and Debonair. It is He, who should have Mounted that Fire Breathing Beast, and Zooming 350 Miles Per Hour, up a specially constructed Ramp at the edge of the Grand Canyon, flown off into the Great Beyond and into the Pages of Legend and History. But we didn't deserve that, no we didn't deserve Hunter S Thompson any more, and thats why he had to Die. But I am looking forward to the Ashes shot out of the Cannon Spectacle, that will be cool. And I will state that Forevermore in my Household, the 20th February will be Known as Hunter S Thompson Day and a Celebratory Occasion it will be, with much Joy, Mirth and Merriment, The Beasts will cook and the Spirits will flow, In Dedication to the Man who should have been the President of the United States, The Honorable and Courageous Hunter S. Thompson!

Not in the mood to read through the comments from sad human trash who feel this is an wonderful opportunity to spew thier desperate Hannity/Limbaugh/Coulter bile on the corpse of a dead man and the people who admired him. . .I hope you remember your actions here when someone you admire and love leaves us and feel some kind of shame.

Giving them a second of further attention defeats the whole purpose of what Hunter stood for and the only reason I mention it is because I saw a question put forth a few posts back, and if it was answered amoungst the subsequent posts I apologize in advance for repeating the answer. . but. . .

According to his son Jaun, Hunter left NO note.

A couple more things Juan had to say:

"I've known for many, many years that this is how Hunter would go. The way he chose to do it was not a surprise, but the timing was a total, total surprise,''

"One thing that he said many times was that, 'I'm a road man for the lords of Karma.' It's a cryptic saying. But there's an implication there that he may have decided that his work was done and that he didn't want to overstay his welcome; it was time to go."

``He was not unhappy, he was not depressed, none of the things you would associate with someone who took his own life,''

"He'd gotten a good night's sleep, he was calm, he was relaxed, he was quite clear. He believed very much in controlling events rather than being controlled by them. I would hope that people see it in that light: That we'll never know why he chose this time, but that he had a good reason, and that it was completely consistent with his life, rather than an act of despair."


. . .and personally, that's what I can accept and choose to accept- he felt it was time and as someone said way back he went out on his own terms.

I also heard today about the "shooting his remains out of a cannon" stuff and I would hope that idea fades out but God bless hia son and his family and whatever they decide is right for his final act in this life is cool with me.

I wish you could have stuck around awhile longer Doc; you damn sure are going to be missed.

You're a sad person Ruby. Your disregard for death is startingly sick.

I offered no personal attack, what are you referring to? You on the other hand decided to attack a woman you've never met but feel more than free to analyze. Even after I carefully explained otherwise. That's not worthy of a man, though it would explain your empathy with a cowardly act such as suicide.

When real humanity is given on a blog, when a real part of someone's life beyond "I like this. I hate this" is given, this is the response. Thanks for reinforcing for me what a jackhole hellhole - scared shitless bunch of people exist to mock one person's death and another's living repercussions of that death.

Though you wouldn't believe it even if your mind and eyes told you otherwise, I've never disrespected anyone's feelings regarding Hunter Thompson, except the one's relating to how suicide is a brave and heroic act. I've never said he didn't have talent. I've never devalued his influence on others. I have belittled no one as you attempted to do to someone you first heard of only through my description.

You wouldn't say the same things about an alcoholic junkie on the street who you found out had shot himself dead. Even if that junkie was a former veteran, as percentages would tell you would be likely. No, you'd likely call him a stupid asshole without a clue.

Why is it so important for you to say suicide is fine? Or heroic? Or was a fitting end? Honour? No, not this way. I clearly stated my view and all you had to say was, well let's agree to disagree and I'm sorry your girlfriend had to go through that.

I think Juan is fooling himself for now - somewhat in the denial stage. But I'm not going to say I KNOW this. It's just a feeling. But, if he truly is at peace with it, then I'm glad.

someone has suggested this term in lieu of suicide, in HST's case: "pre-emptive self-determination"

good one.

PSD

I haven't been a part of this conversation, but Jesus Ruby. Temple brings up a personal story about someone in his life who suffered to make the point that suicide is, on many levels, a selfish act, and you attack the woman in his story? You know what? That's fucking pathetic.

Suicide is a selfish act. I don't think that makes someone who kills himself a horrible or evil person, but yeah, it's a selfish act.

Someone I really care about once tried to commit suicide. He swallowed a bunch of pills. I don't think it was a truly serious attempt--more a stab at getting attention--but it was still damn dangerous. He ended up in the hospital, having his stomach pumped. If he hadn't told someone what he had done, it's very possible he would have died.

I was pissed at him. I was happy he was okay--so, so happy--but I also was horribly angry at him for being so incredibly selfish. I can understand suicide. I've had times in my life where I felt somewhat suicidal, though never in a truly serious way. But one of the reasons I was never serious is because I knew what it would do to my family. I knew how much it would hurt my mother, my father, my brother--how it would devastate them. I knew what it would do to my friends. It would be horrible, terrible, an infliction that would greatly affect their lives, not in a good way. I couldn't do that to them, even if I thought I could do it to me.

Suicide is selfish. It's not brave, it's not glorious, it's not commendable. It can be understandable, as far as I'm concerned, but it's not a good or bright or fair act. It's cruel and selfish and painful, horribly painful. Don't pretend otherwise and don't denigrate someone for recognizing and stating that fact.

Thank you Joel. I knew I wasn't the only out there who's been closely impacted by suicide. Sharng those experiences is more valuable to society, to survival and to happiness than praising people for the act.

Temple, please note discussion here, which includes you in absentia

HST mentioned several times in his interviews with Charlie Rose his belief for Karma, 'I'm a road man for the lords of Karma' as HST would say. When he reached the end of the road could it have been time to complete his Karma with a heroic and honorable act? Being the individualist an