Author Hunter S. Thompson Kills Himself

[Kooperman]

Author Hunter S. Thompson Kills Himself

2 minutes ago U.S. National - AP

By CATHERINE TSAI, Associated Press Writer

DENVER - Hunter S. Thompson, the acerbic counterculture writer who popularized a new form of fictional journalism in books like "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas," fatally shot himself Sunday night at his Aspen-area home, his son said. He was 67.

"Hunter prized his privacy and we ask that his friends and admirers respect that privacy as well as that of his family," Juan Thompson said in a statement released to the Aspen Daily News.

Pitkin County Sheriff Bob Braudis, a personal friend of Thompson, confirmed the death to the News. Sheriff's officials did not return calls to The Associated Press late Sunday.

Juan Thompson found his father's body. Thompson's wife, Anita, was not home at the time.

Besides the 1972 drug-hazed classic about Thompson's visit to Las Vegas, he also wrote "Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail '72." The central character in those wild, sprawling satires was "Dr. Thompson," a snarling, drug- and alcohol-crazed observer and participant.

Thompson is credited with pioneering New Journalism — or, as he dubbed it, "gonzo journalism" — in which the writer made himself an essential component of the story. Much of his earliest work appeared in Rolling Stone magazine.

"Fiction is based on reality unless you're a fairy-tale artist," Thompson told the AP in 2003. "You have to get your knowledge of life from somewhere. You have to know the material you're writing about before you alter it."

An acute observer of the decadence and depravity in American life, Thompson also wrote such collections "Generation of Swine" and "Songs of the Doomed." His first ever novel, "The Rum Diary," written in 1959, was first published in 1998.

Thompson was a counterculture icon at the height of the Watergate era, and Richard Nixon once said he represented "that dark, venal, and incurably violent side of the American character."

Thompson also was the model for Garry Trudeau's balding "Uncle Duke" in the comic strip "Doonesbury" and was portrayed on screen by Johnny Depp in a film adaptation of "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas."

Other books include "The Great Shark Hunt," "Hell's Angels" and "The Proud Highway." His most recent effort was "Hey Rube: Blood Sport, the Bush Doctrine, and the Downward Spiral of Dumbness."

"He may have died relatively young but he made up for it in quality if not quantity of years," Paul Krassner, the veteran radical journalist and one of Thompson's former editors, told The Associated Press by phone from his Southern California home.

"It was hard to say sometimes whether he was being provocative for its own sake or if he was just being drunk and stoned and irresponsible," quipped Krassner, founder of the leftist publication The Realist and co-founder of the Youth International (YIPPIE) party.

"But every editor that I know, myself included, was willing to accept a certain prima donna journalism in the demands he would make to cover a particular story," he said. "They were willing to risk all of his irresponsible behavior in order to share his talent with their readers."

The writer's compound in Woody Creek, not far from Aspen, was almost as legendary as Thompson. He prized peacocks and weapons; in 2000, he accidentally shot and slightly wounded his assistant, Deborah Fuller, trying to chase a bear off his property.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...s/obit_thompson

[KiwiCoromandel]

Writer Hunter S Thompson kills himself

Hunter S Thompson, the renowned American journalist and novelist who wrote Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, has fatally shot himself at his Colorado home, police said.

He was 67.

"We do have confirmation that Hunter Thompson was found dead this evening of an apparent self-inflicted wound," said Tricia Louthis, spokeswoman for the Pitkin County Sheriff'sOffice.

Thompson was found dead at his home outside the ski resort of Aspen.

The Sheriff's's Office was unable to provide any further details.

-Reuters

r.i.p.

[Kooperman]

His last column, from the ESPN website

[/Tuesday, February 15, 2005

Updated: February 21, 12:06 AM ET

Shotgun Golf with Bill Murray

-- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

By Hunter S. Thompson

Page 2

The death of professional hockey in AMERICA is a nasty omen for people with heavy investments in NHL teams. But to me, it meant little or nothing -- and that's why I called Bill Murray with an idea that would change both our lives forever.

It was 3:30 on a dark Tuesday morning when I heard the phone ring on his personal line in New Jersey. "Good thinking," I said to myself as I fired up a thin Cohiba. "He's bound to be wide awake and crackling at this time of day, or at least I can leave a very excited message."

My eerie hunch was right. The crazy bugger picked up on the fourth ring, and I felt my heart racing. "Hot damn!" I thought. "This is how empires are built." Late? I know not late.

Genius round the world stands hand in hand, and one shock of recognition runs the whole circle round.

Herman Melville said that in the winter of 1914, and Murray is keenly aware of it. Only a madman would call a legend of Bill Murray's stature at 3:33 a.m. for no good reason at all. It would be a career-ending move, and also profoundly rude.

But my reason was better than good ...

* * * * *

BILL: "Hello?"

HST: "Hi, Bill, it's Hunter."

BILL: "Hi, Hunter."

HST: "Are you ready for a powerful idea? I want to ask you about golf in Japan. I understand they're building vertical driving ranges on top of each other."

BILL (sounding strangely alert): "Yes, they have them outdoors, under roofs ..."

HST: "I've seen pictures. I thought they looked like bowling alleys stacked on top of each other."

BILL: (Laughs.)

HST: "I'm working on a profoundly goofy story here. It's wonderful. I've invented a new sport. It's called Shotgun Golf. We will rule the world with this thing."

BILL: "Mmhmm."

HST: "I've called you for some consulting advice on how to launch it. We've actually already launched it. Last spring, the Sheriff and I played a game outside in the yard here. He had my Ping Beryllium 9-iron, and I had his shotgun, and about 100 yards away, we had a linoleum green and a flag set up. He was pitching toward the green. And I was standing about 10 feet away from him, with the alley-sweeper. And my objective was to blow his ball off course, like a clay pigeon."

BILL: (Laughs.)

HST: "It didn't work at first. The birdshot I was using was too small. But double-aught buck finally worked for sure. And it was fun."

BILL: (Chuckles.)

HST: "OK, I didn't want to wake you up, but I knew you'd want to be in on the ground floor of this thing."

BILL: (Silence.)

HST: "Do you want to discuss this tomorrow?"

BILL: "Sure."

HST: "Excellent."

BILL: "I think I might have a queer dream about it now, but ..." (Laughs.)

HST: "This sport has a HUGE future. Golf in America will soon come to this."

BILL: "It will bring a whole new meaning to the words 'Driving Range'."

HST: "Especially when you stack them on top of each other. I've seen it in Japan."

BILL: "They definitely have multi-level driving ranges. Yes."

HST: (Laughs.) "How does that work? Do they have extremely high ceilings?"

BILL: "No. The roof above your tee only projects out about 10 feet, and they have another range right above you. It's like they took the façade off a building. People would be hanging out of their offices."

HST: "I see. It's like one of those original Hyatt Regency Hotels. Like an atrium. In the middle of the building you could jump straight down into the lobby?"

BILL: "Exactly like that!"

HST: "It's like people driving balls from one balcony to the next."

BILL: (Laughs.) "Yes, they could."

HST: "I could be on the eighth floor and you on the sixth? Or on the fifteenth. And we'd be driving across a lake."

BILL: "They have flags out every 150 yards, every 200 yards, every 250 yards. It's just whether you are hitting it at ground level, or from five stories up."

HST: "I want to find out more about this. This definitely has a future to it."

BILL: "They have one here in the city -- down at Chelsea Pier."

HST: "You must have played a lot of golf in Japan."

BILL: "Not much; I just had one really great day of golf. I worked most of the time. But I did play one beautiful golf course. They have seasonal greens, two different types of grass. It's really beautiful."

HST: "Well, I'm writing a column for ESPN.com and I want to know if you like my new golf idea. A two-man team."

BILL: "Well, with all safety in mind, yes. Two-man team? Yeah! That sounds great. I think it would create a whole new look. It would create a whole new clothing line."

HST: "Absolutely. You'll need a whole new wardrobe for this game."

BILL: "Shooting glasses and everything."

HST: "We'll obviously have to make a movie. This will mushroom or mutate -- either way -- into a real craze. And given the mood of this country, being that a lot of people in the mood to play golf are also in the mood to shoot something, I think it would take off like a gigantic fad."

BILL: "I think the two-man team idea would be wonderful competition and is something the Ryder Cup would pick up on."

HST: "I was talking with the Sheriff about it earlier. But in one-man competition, I'd have to compete against you, say, in both of the arts -- the shooting AND the golfing. But if you do the Ryder Cup, you'd have to have the clothing line first. I'm going to write about this for ESPN tonight. I'm naming you and the Sheriff as the founding consultants."

BILL: "Sounds good."

HST: "OK, I'll call you tomorrow. And by the way, I'll see if I can twist some arms and get you an Oscar. But I want a Nobel Prize in return."

BILL: "Well, we can work together on this. This is definitely a team challenge." (Laughing.)

HST: "OK. We'll talk tomorrow."

BILL: "Good night."

So there it is. Shotgun Golf will soon take America by storm. I see it as the first truly violent leisure sport. Millions will crave it.

* * * * *

Shotgun Golf was invented in the ominous summer of 2004 AD, right here at the Owl Farm in Woody Creek, Colo. The first game was played between me and Sheriff Bob Braudis, on the ancient Bomb & Shooting Range of the Woody Creek Rod & Gun Club. It was witnessed by many members and other invited guests, and filmed for historical purposes by Dr. Thompson on Super-Beta videotape.

The game consists of one golfer, one shooter and a field judge. The purpose of the game is to shoot your opponent's high-flying golf ball out of the air with a finely-tuned 12-gauge shotgun, thus preventing him (your opponent) from lofting a 9-iron approach shot onto a distant "green" and making a "hole in one." Points are scored by blasting your opponent's shiny new Titleist out of the air and causing his shot to fail miserably. That earns you two points.

But if you miss and your enemy holes out, he (or she) wins two points when his ball hits and stays on the green.

And after that, you trade places and equipment, and move on to round 2.

My patent is pending, and the train is leaving the station, and Murray is a Founding Consultant, along with the Sheriff, and Keith Richards, etc., etc. Invest now or forever hold your peace.

* * * * *

As for Bill's triumphant finish at Pebble Beach, I am almost insanely proud of him. He is an elegant athlete in the finest Murray tradition. Bill is a dangerous brute with the fastest reflexes in Hollywood, but he is suave, and that is why I trust him even more than I trust all his brothers. Yes, I say Hallelujah, praise Jesus. Where is Brian? I will need him for this golf project, if only to offset Bill's bitchiness. We will march on a road of bones.

OK. Back to business. It was Bill Murray who taught me how to mortify your opponents in any sporting contest, honest or otherwise. He taught me my humiliating PGA fadeaway shot, which has earned me a lot of money ... after that, I taught him how to swim, and then I introduced him to the shooting arts, and now he wins everything he touches. Welcome to the future of America. Welcome to Shotgun Golf.

So long and Mahalo.

Hunter.

Dr. Hunter S. Thompson was born and raised in Louisville, Ky. His books include "Hell's Angels," "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas," "Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail '72," "The Great Shark Hunt," "The Curse of Lono," "Generation of Swine," "Songs of the Doomed," "Screwjack," "Better Than Sex," "The Proud Highway," "The Rum Diary," and "Fear and Loathing in America." His latest book, "Kingdom of Fear," has just been released. A regular contributor to various national and international publications, Thompson now lives in a fortified compound near Aspen, Colo. His column, "Hey, Rube," appears regularly on Page 2.

[slum_goddess]

this depresses me more than i can say; it was the first thing i saw this morning (people mailed me w/links)

[method77]

I read fear and loathing after I saw the movie. Great stuff

[Lord_of_the_Dense]

Thompson's Ashes May Be Shot From Cannon

DENVER - Hunter S. Thompson, the "gonzo journalist" with a penchant for drugs, guns and flame-thrower prose, might have one more salvo in store for everyone: Friends and relatives want to blast his ashes out of a cannon, just as he wished.

"If that's what he wanted, we'll see if we can pull it off," said historian Douglas Brinkley, a friend of Thompson's and now the family's spokesman.

Thompson, who shot himself to death at his Aspen-area home Sunday at 67, said several times he wanted an artillery send-off for his remains.

Read entire story here.

[slum_goddess]

i read an interview w/ralph steadman that said he was gonna build the cannon. as well i find it amusing to some small degree that judging by responses to this topic, hardly anyone is fazed by Hunter's death. *mirthless laughter* <_>

[Redneck4sure]

I am not familiar with his work since I never read anything he wrote. That is why I didn't post.

I couldn't make a brilliant observation that would dazzle you and didn't even know enough to baffle you with bullshit.

RIP Mr. Thompson. r.i.p.

[slum_goddess]

believe it or not, i wasn't thinking of youu-uuuuuuuuu...just an observation. maybe i'm wrong but one would think his writings never filtered down the (USA mostly) generations. ok, i'm done. for now.

[Redneck4sure]

believe it or not, i wasn't thinking of youu-uuuuuuuuu...

:(

I wuz thinkin' of youuuuu :wha':

[slum_goddess]

i'll try to remember to think of you more in future, ok? um...i'm thinking of you right NOW and will attempt to hold the thought long--OOH LOOK! A KITTY!

[Redneck4sure]

i'll try to remember to think of you more in future, ok? um...i'm thinking of you right NOW and will attempt to hold the thought long--OOH LOOK! A KITTY!

Here is what I was expecting.

i'll try to remember to think of you more in future, ok? um...i'm thinking of you right NOW and will attempt to hold the thought long--OOH SHIT......I'M GONNA PUKE!!!!!!

[Kooperman]

i read an interview w/ralph steadman that said he was gonna build the cannon. as well i find it amusing to some small degree that judging by responses to this topic, hardly anyone is fazed by Hunter's death. *mirthless laughter* <_>

Thompson was a "home-town boy" from right here in Louisville, Kentucky, where I keeps meself. He went to school here at Male High School, where he was a brilliant juvenile delinquent....but that fits the profile, right slum?

By the way, I still have some of those old issues of Rolling Stone in which he analyzed the political scene during the 1972 presidential campaign....that landscape must have looked damn good compared to Bushworld. No wonder he blew his flame out...

[Warflower]

this depresses me more than i can say; it was the first thing i saw this morning (people mailed me w/links)

yes, very depressing...didn't his mother commit suicide too? :(

[slum_goddess]

he was a brilliant juvenile delinquent....but that fits the profile, right slum?

who me? how would i know? (but yeah, from what i read this week it seems he was)

hang on to those issues, they're like cultural artifacts (at the very least y'can get high and goof on the 30+ year old adverts)

i read that he'd been in too much (physical) pain to want to go on in any other but a physically independent way, dint wanna be in a wheelchair or needy in any way. there's also a quote of his which of course i can't remember now, something about if he dint have the option of suicide, this world would be a trap (he said this like decades ago, i believe, in an interview)

Warflower: i don't know about his mother committing suicide.

[Lord_of_the_Dense]

Thompson Shot Himself While on Phone

ASPEN, Colo. - The widow of journalist Hunter S. Thompson said her husband killed himself while the two were talking on the phone.

"I was on the phone with him, he set the receiver down and he did it. I heard the clicking of the gun," Anita Thompson told the Aspen Daily News in Friday's editions.

She said her husband had asked her to come home from a health club so they could work on his weekly ESPN column — but instead of saying goodbye, he set the telephone down and shot himself.

Read entire story here.

[method77]

shit

[slum_goddess]

about those conspiracy theories...they're still going strong.

[DudeAsInCool]

about those conspiracy theories...they're still going strong.

What conspiracy theories? You didnt post any earlier ones...

[slum_goddess]

yeah, i know. i figured that not too many people are interested in this (and the ones who're interested would be interested enough to google). yeah i'm lazy.

[DudeAsInCool]

Toronto Globe and Mail February 26, 2005:

Hunter telephoned me on Feb. 19, the night before his death. He sounded scared. It wasn't always easy to understand what he said, particularly over the phone, he mumbled, yet when there was something he really wanted you to understand, you did. He'd been working on a story about the World Trade Center attacks and had stumbled across what he felt was hard evidence showing the towers had been brought down not by the airplanes that flew into them but by explosive charges set off in their foundations. Now he thought someone was out to stop him publishing it: "They're gonna make it look like suicide," he said. "I know how these bastards think . . ."

Here is one story. HST is not the only one who thinks the WTC disaster was an inside job. I dont think it was...but I will keep an open mind if the right info surfaces..

What do you think, SG?

[slum_goddess]

stuff like 'we have also been told that Hunter S. Thompson suddenly ended a “good talk” with his wife to write a letter, that he suddenly stopped writing the letter to kill himself so he could die while he was happy, that his wife heard only clicks, that she heard clicks followed by a loud, muffled noise, that after shooting himself he dropped the gun to the floor yet his gun hand fell into his lap, that two cops carried the same shotgun into the kitchen, and that a bullet failed to cycle into the chamber of a Smith & Wesson .645 …'

there's a lot of speculation on mackwhite.com at link above about the technical stuff w/the hammer of the gun used which means nothing to me, not knowing guns. i don't know if i believe any of this, i'm too emotionally involved. i did find it strange that he did it while talking to his wife though. and that he did it at all, he was a fighter.

before i read the conspiracy stuff i was content to think he was in a lot of physical pain from his hip but now i don't know and prolly nobody will know. as well, this happened right before we found out about Peter...so AFAIC, it was one big shock (HST was a hero of mine since forever) before another, bigger and more emotional shock. i have very sad memories about the entire recent time period of that, from 21. febr ending almost a month later.

[slum_goddess]

in brief, i'd rather believe he did it himself --i still haven't gotten over the JFK thing

[KiwiCoromandel]

i`m always a starter for a good conspiracy theory...in my experience many conspiracy theories are based on fact...we should call them " fact " theories or " real " theories or " truth " theories.... :bigsmile:

[DudeAsInCool]

Thompson ashes said to be shot from cannon

By Dan Elliott

April 5, 2005  |  Denver -- Hunter S. Thompson's ashes will be blasted from a cannon mounted inside a 53-foot-high sculpture of the journalist's "gonzo fist" emblem, his wife said Tuesday.

The cannon shot, planned sometime in August on the grounds of his Aspen-area home, will fulfill the writer's long-cherished wish.

"It's expensive, but worth every penny," Anita Thompson said.

http://www.salon.com/news/wire/2005/04/05/...pson/index.html