RIP: Hunter S. Thompson

[malcom]

Hunter S. Thomson dead at 67[/url]

[Rich]

you beat me to the punch my friend. I am very upset right now, My roommate called me a bit ago, I just got off the phones, He works at the paper and found out immediately from the AP wire. RIP GOOD DOCTOR

[likeaghost]

there are no words

the world has lost a true great

[Bucky Ramone]

[AGAP]

That’s so sad…

[SG]

[Rich]

I kind of feel empty inside

[AGAP]

I’ve been reading thru his page 2 bits at ESPN…such a loss

They have a tribute page up for now…Hunter S Thompson

[Rich]

Hunter’s last column

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."

[crazycloud]

what a surpirise you know.. he always had a way of projecting a strong sence of self in his work with an incredible sence of humor.. that last collom shows now signs of suicidal thoughts… god what a bummer…

[AGAP]

Theres a pretty pleasing video tribute to Hunter S Thompson on CBC, you can view the real player video…here

[Rich]

CBC’s video was great, Poor Hunter, He will be missed

[crazycloud]

check this out… the denver post has the best write up ive found so far…

Nancy Lofholm
Denver Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, February 23, 2005 –

Aspen – In what could pass for an outlandish scene from the pages of one of Hunter S. Thompson’s books, actor Johnny Depp and others who were close to the gonzo journalist are searching for a cannon and researching firing techniques to grant the author’s wish that his cremated remains be blasted into the sky.

"If it can be done, we will do it," said Boston entertainment lawyer George Tobia Jr., who has represented Thompson for about 15 years. "Maybe it will be part of a public thing, or maybe one night a shot will ring out and people will know."

Thompson’s unusual send-off is not the only posthumous bang that can be expected from a prolific writer who turned journalism on its head with his incisive and manic observations of everything from the Hells Angels to basketball.

Tobia said many unpublished works are forthcoming.

When Thompson sat down in his kitchen near his trusty typewriter and fired a gun into his mouth Sunday night, he left behind numerous collections of unpublished writings, including a novel called "Prince Jelly Fish," reams of essays and scads of letters.

Some of the writings are in manuscript form. Some are included in Thompson’s own detailed files of everything he ever wrote going back half a century, when he had to use typewriter carbon paper to make copies. Many are in faxes. The legendary night owl and news junkie would send nocturnal faxes to his confidants, commenting on happenings in the news. President Bush’s re-election was a frequent topic. Janet Jackson’s "wardrobe malfunction" merited at least one essay.

"He has a voluminous legacy of work," said Tobia, who has also represented the interests of famous beat-generation writers, including Jack Kerouac, William Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg. "There was hardly a day that went by when Hunter didn’t send out a fax. And it wouldn’t be a two-line fax. It was always a screed. They were so well written."

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Tobia said Thompson sent him faxes in the week before he died. He also kept up his weekly columns for ESPN.com. His most recent piece recommended devising a new golf game that would use guns to shoot balls out of the air rather than hitting them with clubs.

Tobia and other representatives of Thompson’s estate will be sifting through the unpublished writings to decide when and in what form they will be publicized.

But first, they have to take care of the matter of the cannon.

Thompson liked to joke that he was cannon fodder, which led to his oft-expressed wish for one final blast.

It’s a wish that legally could fly.

"It think if someone wanted to fire a cannon on their own property, I think they could do that," said Pitkin County sheriff’s investigator Joe DiSalvo. "I think by statute it would be OK."

Hunter Stockton Thompson
Born: July 18, 1937, in Louisville, Ky.

Married: Sandra Dawn, May 19, 1963 (divorced in 1980); Anita Beymuk, April 24, 2003

Children: One son, Juan

Education: Journalism, Columbia University

Career: Time, Caribbean correspondent, 1959; New York Herald Tribune, Caribbean correspondent, 1959-60; National Observer, South American correspondent, 1961-63; The Nation, West Coast correspondent, 1964-66; Ramparts, columnist, 1967-68; Scanlan’s Monthly, columnist, 1969-70; Rolling Stone, national affairs editor, 1970-84; High Times, global affairs correspondent, 1977-82; San Francisco Examiner, media critic, 1985-90; candidate for sheriff of Pitkin County, 1968; executive director, Woody Creek Rod and Gun Club

Books: Among his writings, "Hell’s Angels: A Strange and Terrible Saga"; "The Curse of Lono"; "Generation of Swine"; "Better Than Sex"; "The Proud Highway"; "The Rum Diary"; "Fear and Loathing in America: The Brutal Odyssey of an Outlaw Journalist."

Source: Contemporary Authors Online, Thomson Gale, 2004

DENVER POST RESEARCH LIBRARIAN ANN FEILER

Thompson was cremated in Glenwood Springs in Tuesday.

Depp became part of the cannon search because he and Thompson had been close friends since working together on the 1998 movie version of Thompson’s "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas." Depp played Thompson’s alter ego, Raoul Duke.

Tobia said jokes cropped up Tuesday that maybe Depp could secure a prop cannon from his 2003 movie "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl."

Thompson fans may be able to witness that unusual send- off, but they will have to wait.

Thompson’s close friends and family will have a private gathering March 5 at the Belly Up nightclub in Aspen. A public ceremony is planned in the spring or early summer.

Meanwhile, glasses are being hoisted and Thompson books are being pulled out and thumbed through in Aspen and Woody Creek and around the world, as evidenced in condolence letters being sent to Aspen newspapers.

Two anonymous Thompson fans called the bar in the Hotel Jerome on Monday and gave their credit-card numbers so bartenders could buy a drink for anyone who mentioned Thompson’s name.

Even Gov. Bill Owens, who said he read "Fear and Loathing" many years ago, addressed the author’s proclivity for spirits.

Asked about Thompson’s contribution to Colorado and the nation, Owens said, "He certainly increased substantially the alcohol consumption at the … Woody Creek Tavern."

At the Woody Creek General Store, T-shirts and pink-and- black thong underwear bearing Thompson’s trademark closed fist under the word "Gonzo" were selling to some of those making pilgrimages to Thompson’s stomping grounds.

The flag still flew at half-staff at the Woody Creek Post Office on Tuesday, as the loss of a man who Aspen friends say was as kind as he was zany began to sink in.

"He was our Hemingway," said DiSalvo. "He was our friend."

[Rich]

I really want to read "Prince Jelly Fish"

[AGAP]

I hope they can get that cannon deal to happen, with fireworks of course

[Author]

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