The man, the writer, the idea I smoke this bowl in honour of Thompson who was "suicided" 1 year ago today, I sure hope the next plane is wierd enough for you. Who's with me
"We can't stop here! Its bat country." -johnny Depp as Hunter S Thompson he was like a father to me and i never even met him
I declared today, the day after the Lamest of American Holidays Hunter S. Thompson day. I posted it on several targeted forums here, but I guess it's only ok to post it once, seeing it got taken down everywhere except in "Protest" ANY WHO From this day forward, may the day After Presidents Day always be a day to celebrate all things Gonzo! spread the word...(the day after Presidents day because it's a backlash to that Lame American Holiday. This way HST DAY will always have a place in American Culture!) Happy Hunter S. Thompson Day! Cheers
any further discussion?.................all those in favor...(I)..motion carries. The Day after Presidents Day will forever more be Hunter S. Thompson Day - Celebrate it always how ever you see fit. Cheers to the Good Doctor!
Thompson is the father of gonzo jounalism. He wrote for the stone of and on up untill his death. He is most famous for the story Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, but wrote many others as well. He is also noted to have spent the 72' Campain harrassing Nixon. http://www.gonzo.org/ this site has alot of back ground and a list of his published works.
as far as i can tell he pretty much did a lot of drugs and wrote some mediocre books. if you wanna embrace a druggie i'd go with Hendrix as my first choice.
how about morrison? i think he did alot more drugs then hendrix. don't get me wrong, i love hendrix, but i think morrison did alot more.
Well someone has to stand up for him, its just I am no expert on Thompson. Hunter S Thompson is a writer, cultural icon, historian, and most importantly a man who teaches us to question everything we have been taught. As a writer he wrote for Rolling Stone, he traveld through South America writing on its condition, he followed the 68' and 72' Presidential campaigns, and wrote about living with the Hell's Angels. Thompson was a cultural icon because he lived outside the law. This does not nessacarilly mean that he wanted to break the law he just lived with no regard to it. He got away with some extrodinary crimes, and never went to prison. He was involved in a few murders, alot of insanity, and never tried to hide his drug use from anyone. But in all his insanity was a sense of reason and justice that was not corrupted by propaganda or modern life. It was this clear and just view of the world's events that made him so well respected. Reading his writings is also a first person account of some of the biggest events during the 70's that greatly affect the world we live in today. His perspective was that of the side that lost. He wrote about what the world could have been like if power had no been greatly centralised in the goverment and companies. And when you read his works he inspiers you to not follow, but to be your own person. He also has an infectious love of life that you can't help but let inside you, reading his happy works will make you upbeat all day. If you think he writes mediocre books you havn't read Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. That book is hillarious, the whole book makes you a partner to Thompsons insanity in Las Vegas, I can't stress this enough the book is great. So to sum it up, love Thompson because he will make you want to be a better person, and live in a better wrold. And he is incredibly fun to read
It's not all about embracing a "druggie" Thompson was much more than that. Unless you're a Bush supporter or a Nixon fan, I don't see how anyone could read any of his books, not roll with laughter and then call them "mediocore" - exactly which books of Thompson's do you consider "mediocore" - which ones have you read? If you haven't, perhaps you should consider expanding your horizons - if your into that. As a journalist, I consider Thompson a modern elite master of the English language that few of the 21st could rival. Hendrix was a musical master, not a master of story telling as was Thompson. Thompson changed the way people tell stories, he has been a HUGE influence on American-counter culture, at least for those who pay attention: 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 Just thought I would share...cheers.
