Hunter S. Thompson Day, Feb. 21, 2006

In honor of The Father of Gonzo Journalism - The Good Doctor - Hunter S. Thompson's life, which he eded one year ago, Presidents Day 2005: As a journalist I've dclared Feb. 21 - the day after the Lamest of American holiday's will forever more be: Hunter S. Thompson Day - a day to celebrate America's Original Outlaw Journalist.

Hunter S. Thompson

"A failed novelist who turned to journalism to pay the bills..."


Hunter S. Thompson
July 18, 1937-Feb. 20, 2005
- Father of Gonzo Journalism and New Journalism -


HST famous quotes:
"When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro"
"Buy the ticket, take the ride"
"Too weird to live, too rare to die"

* Hey Rube (2004) - Blood, Sport, the Bush Doctrine and the Downward Spiral of Dumbness: A Modern History from the Sports Desk (complied from his long-running ESPN column)

* Kingdom of Fear (2003) Loathsome Secrets of a Star-Crossed Child in the Final Days of The American Century - an angry commentary on the passing of the American Century

* Fear and Loathing in America: The Brutal Odyssey of an Outlaw Journalist (collection of papers from TIME) 1968-76

* Fear and Loathing Letters, Vol. 1: The Proud Highway: The Saga of a Desperate Southern Gentleman 1955-67

* Gonzo Papers, Vol. 1: The Great Shark Hunt: Strange Tales from a Strange Time, 1979
* Gonzo Papers, Vol. 2: Generation of Swine: Tales of Shame and Degradation in the 1980s
* Gonzo Papers, Vol. 3: Songs of the Doomed: More Notes on the Death of The American Dream: 1990
* Gonzo Papers, Vol. 4: Better Than Sex - Confessions of a Political Junkie: 1994

* Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream: 1971
* Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail 1972: 1973

* Hells Angles: A Strange and Terrible Saga: 1966

*The Rum Diary: The Long Lost Novel: 1959

Suicide note:
"Football Season is over":
"No More Games. No More Bombs. No More Walking. No More Fun. No More Swimming. 67. That is 17 years past 50. 17 more than I needed or wanted. Boring. I am always bitchy. No Fun—for anybody. 67. You are getting Greedy. Act your old age. Relax—This won't hurt."



Legacy
As a writer, Thompson is remembered most for his flamboyant and humorous style, employing action verbs to comically spin outlandish tales that were completely unbelievable, yet provided a unique viewpoint to accurately describe the underlying reality at hand. Thompson almost always wrote in first person narrative, and his stories became so colorfully contrived that they easily slipped into the realm of fiction; however, the basic framework of the story he told was very often true.
Thompson’s writing style has been widely imitated; his influence on American Writers of the latter half of the 20th century is undeniable.
In his writing, he cultivated the persona of a dangerously absurd, drug-crazed journalist bent on comic self-destruction. His fctional persona largely mirrored his actual life.

Political Beliefs
Although letters from Thompson to his friends note that he had taken an early interest in Ayn Rand's school of Objectivism, he eventually drifted away from Rand's version of anti-establishment politics into his own field. While distinctly embracing the notion of democracy and its virtues as evidenced in his political writings in both the 1972 and 1976 elections, Thompson was acutely aware of the flaws in such a system and regularly advocated radical approaches to politics that veered between libertarian, anarchist, and elements of socialism. In the documentary "Breakfast With Hunter", Thompson can be seen in several scenes wearing different Che Guevara t-shirts, while his son Juan Thompson acknowledges that his father had 'a perverse resistance to security and predictability, and a deliberate disregard for propriety.'
Thompson's official biographer and longtime friend Douglas Brinkley said:
"He’s both a kind of old-fashioned believer in democratic virtues, but also an anarchist. There’s always that unpredictable element with him. In any given situation, as soon as he feels there’s a system closing in, he’ll destroy it."
Regarding contemporary politics, in 2004 Thompson wrote: "Nixon was a professional politician, and I despised everything he stood for—but if he were running for president this year against the evil Bush-Cheney gang, I would happily vote for him." (Fear and Loathing, Campaign 2004, Rolling Stone)

In the late 1960s, Thompson received a "doctorate" in Divinity from a mail-order church while living in San Francisco. He was jocularly referred to as "the Good Doctor" on account.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunter_S._Thompson