Lono is stunned by his literary hero's latest act...
Well, I just found out minutes ago that Hunter S Thompson is dead. This is terrible news for me because he was a god to me. I am sad and torn and will deal with this the way I deal with everything - writing to you about it.…
Article comments
— go to most recent comments76 - Shark
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!)
77 - gonzo marx
"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
78 - JL
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.
79 - reek
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.
80 - Silas Kain
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.
81 - jane
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.
82 - Tony Taylor
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.
83 - st intoxication
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!!!!!!!!!!!!!
84 - Knight of Rose Croix
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?
85 - Dick
Sure, sure good old gun loving Hunter leaving your brains on the ceiling for your son to clean up.
86 - Baker
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...
87 - Wayne
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.
88 - dave hume
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.
89 - swood
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.
90 - morkof
Serbian fans paid homage today.
The Good Doctor will explain himself eventually.
Mahalo Hunter
91 - Jeff
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.
92 - ryanchaffee
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."
93 - Hunterd
None of you have learnt anything from Hunter S. Thompson...
94 - jane
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.
95 - HW Saxton
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.
96 - dave hume
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.
97 - dave hume
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.
98 - manny
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.
99 - Senor Padraig
Amen Brother!
100 - Thro
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...
101 - ET
dave hume, you are an idiot. GET OVER YOURSELF
102 - kmg
What a champion for Lisl Auman!
103 - Steve
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.
104 - alex
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....
105 - dave hume
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.
ADVERTISEMENT
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.
106 - G Bright
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
107 - SirHunterIsKing
Was there a note left?
108 - Gray
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
109 - Lono
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
110 - Jonas
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.
111 - jane
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.
112 - Temple Stark
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.
113 - Aaman
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.
114 - VinceCooks
"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.
115 - dave Hume
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.
116 - dave Hume
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
117 - Eric Olsen
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
118 - Aaman
Some wonderful obits - the MSNBC one: "Prose laureate of the Age of Paranoia",has
119 - Temple Stark
I also like to chew on little asian boys bum bum holes :D Because I know all
120 - Temple Stark
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.
121 - Marclah
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
122 - Dawn
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.
123 - Ruby
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.
124 - Temple Stark
>>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?"
125 - ruby
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.