Hunter S. Thompson dead at 67

[pumpkineater]

...from self inflicted gun shot wound

Its strange to me to think of generations who will not be able to read or watch or view the works of greats like Hunter S. Thompson without the reality that they are still alive somewhere out there. Though i guess every generation has a "great" lost before it.

 

[Jeratain]

Strange memories on this nervous night in Las Vegas. Five years later? Six? It seems like a lifetime, or at least a Main Era--the kind of peak that never comes again. San Francisco in the middle sixties was a very special time and place to be a part of. Maybe it meant something. Maybe not, in the long run. . . but no explanation, no mix of words or music or memories can touch that sense of knowing that you were there and alive in that corner of time and the world. Whatever it meant. . . .

And that, I think, was the handle--that sense of inevitable victory over the forces of Old and Evil. Not in any mean or military sense; we didn't need that. Our energy would simply prevail. There was no point in fighting--on our side or theirs. We had all the momentum; we were riding the crest of a high and beautiful wave. . . .

So now, less than five years later, you can go up on a steep hill in Las Vegas and look West, and with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high-water mark--that place where the wave finally broke and rolled back.

RIP to a genius. You taught me what the American Dream was all about.

 

[jonatas]

from a gun shot wound? i'm in shock....

 

[rbis4rbb]

Killed himself? Wow, RIP to the original Gonzo journalist.

 

[JohnRM]

Judging from the content of some of his work, this does not surprise me.

 

[Jawz II]

saw this on cnn

damn

 

[punkbass2000]

Well, he far surpassed his life expectancy of 27. (His friends calculated that that's when he should die based on his lifestyle, and he agreed. They even took bets.)

 

[Bozo Erectus]

He always gave me the creeps.

 

[Mescalhead]

An extreme end for an extreme personality.

RIP
(and I don't mean "rest in peace", I'm sayin' "get ripped!)

 

[Steve Thompson]

Yeah, it is amazing he didn't die at 27...

Getting ripped in memory of Hunter S. Thompson - great idea!

 

[jst666]

RIP

He was an awesome dude.

 

[FearlessLeader2]

Sounds like another Tom Leary wannabe to me. What's the big deal? Some aging hipster that couldn't let go of the 60s offed himself instead of letting the slow advance of years rot him body and brain.

The guy took a bunch of drugs, went on binges, wrote about it, and that makes him great? Sounds like another druggie loser to me. Someone shoulda put him in the Betty Ford Clinic instead of publishing his garbage, maybe then he would've got some help.

 

[jst666]

IIRC Mr. Leary was a guy who promoted use of LSD as an answer to most of our problems. Thompson did not promote drug use. He was a writer, sort-of-a-journalist, who used a lot of drugs, as many other writers. He was not a drug addict in the classical sense, thou drugs had a big part in his life AFAIK. He just went with the flow, and wrote some great stuff.

 

[pumpkineater]

Sounds like another Tom Leary wannabe to me. What's the big deal? Some aging hipster that couldn't let go of the 60s offed himself instead of letting the slow advance of years rot him body and brain.

The guy took a bunch of drugs, went on binges, wrote about it, and that makes him great? Sounds like another druggie loser to me. Someone shoulda put him in the Betty Ford Clinic instead of publishing his garbage, maybe then he would've got some help.

With a few other writers Thompson created "gonzo" journalism which basically changed and influenced journalists and still influences them. The idea of a journalist being an integral part of the story is something that comes from guys like Hunter, and that alone puts him up as a great.

 

[jonatas]

Someone shoulda put him in the Betty Ford Clinic instead of publishing his garbage, maybe then he would've got some help.

he had nothing to do with Leary fyi.... Fear and Loathing is a modern classic... thank god he wasn't some uptight christian fundamentalist who had his sex positions regulated by his church....

 

[SanPellegrino]

The guy took a bunch of drugs, went on binges, wrote about it, and that makes him great? Sounds like another druggie loser to me. Someone shoulda put him in the Betty Ford Clinic instead of publishing his garbage, maybe then he would've got some help.

whatever he did, without nonconformists like him the world would be a sad place

 

[cgannon64]

Well, he far surpassed his life expectancy of 27. (His friends calculated that that's when he should die based on his lifestyle, and he agreed. They even took bets.)

He sure woulda fit in with the Club of 27.

 

[FearlessLeader2]

he had nothing to do with Leary fyi.... Fear and Loathing is a modern classic... thank god he wasn't some uptight christian fundamentalist who had his sex positions regulated by his church....

What has that got to do with anything? Someone criticises your hero, and you make up something about their religion and attack that? Is that some sort of valid debating form where you come from?

A little FYI for you... it don't float in this toilet.