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








Just thought I would share...cheers.

 

Wouldn't it make more sense to have it on the 20th instead?

 

THe Day after Presidents Day makes sense to me because it's the backlash of Presidents Day. That way it will always have a place in American Culture, as the day after the Lamest American Holiday, celebrate however you like.

 

damn fine idea

 

spread the word...

 

How is presidents day a lame holiday? It was made by putting together the birthday holidays of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, 2 of our most loved presidents.

*EDIT* This is TheMadcapSyd on a friend's computer, forgot to sign into my own name

 

Clever proposition. Wonder how you'd go about making that serious?

 

Look, I will respect the guy and his crazy journalism. But a holiday. Thats pretty stupid.

 

no one said a holiday just a day to remeber

 

Every day is some special day to remember somebody, or a whole month for it. I'll remember people on my own terms and Im sick of us setting aside periods of time to remember some old shit that really didn't make that big of a difference.

 

wow get pissed over nothing no one is holding a gun to your head its just a good idea, no one said you had to support it, hunter was a good man, he wasnt the secound coming of chirst or anything but he influence many people, and i for one think its a good idea

 

That was uncalled for. You know the op had respect for him and you had to say that. He made a huge difference. You just haven't noticed those differences because you are too ignorant to notice. I think that this day of rememberance of Hunter S Thompson is a great idea. He was a great author and created a different perspective of this country. RIP Hunter.

 

Yeah Im ignorant. Hit the nail on the head. Sorry, I just don't find the act of assigning dead people various days as a necessary prerequisite for rememberance.

 

Its lame because We/They didn't have the stones to keep celebrating these real events on the proper day, instead the holiday was degraded into "the last day of the long weekend."

 

Right on! Another day to skip classes to smoke pot and watch Fear and Loathing. I am reading Kingdom of Fear right now, it is Grrrrrreat! And after reading that book wow he really did live in a time of Fear. And I didn't think we lived in a time of Fear but it turns out I just never knew anything differnt.

 

wow

 

Well, it makes a difference specifically to the people on this forum. Many people here have read, and repected HST and it we want to recognize the man, and his work. A day like this, and a thread like this is a good way to do that. If you don't care, nobody is telling you that you have to.

 

how random. im not totally sure he deserves a day. what he wrote was pretty fucking awesome, but still, just because someone dies doent mean they deserve a day, i mean, if we had a day for everyone that died then eveydayh of the year would be dedicated to millions of people. i just dont see ho what he did was all that important. but is a nice thought.

 

It's a day for the people who recognize it as a day. I'm sure you celebrate something that I don't. Celebrate and let celebrate! Why is there some board that sees over who has days and who doesn't and are there requirements to celebrate each day? I say no.
Celebrate HST Day if you like, and if not, ignore it and celebrate something that has meaning to you. There just happens to be a cult following of HST, so I'm spreading the word of the day to recognize him, however I'm not pushing HST on anyone, that was never my intention.